


Legacy (AKA Who knew paternal instinct could override a crazy homicidal god-complex?)

by Pappels (SabakuNoKel)



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Raising a baby, Sane Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Sephiroth rediscovering his humanity, Slow Build Cloud/Sephiroth, Slow Burn, various Final Fantasy cameos - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2020-05-14 10:35:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 40,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19271497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabakuNoKel/pseuds/Pappels
Summary: Sephiroth is brought back to life by the cry of his son.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So the new FF7 Remake trailer came out and I told myself if they showed Sephiroth for real this time I would write a fic so here we are (I haven't written anything in like a year and a half so forgive me if I'm a little rusty)

Sephiroth awoke in a green-tinted haze.

For a moment he had no recollection of anything, he didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there, all he could remember was his name and everything else was just… blank, but then the moment ended and recollection slammed back into him all at once. Memories assaulted him—of anger, and betrayal, and death—and he lurched forward, muscles screaming in protest at the sudden movement. There was the sound of a crash followed by a moment of vertigo before his body impacted with a hard surface. He gasped in a breath of air, shards of broken glass digging into the palms of his hands as he knelt on the cold ground in a puddle of familiar glowing liquid.

Mako. 

Of course.

Sephiroth remembered how much it hurt to be exposed to Mako but being familiar with the pain didn't make dealing with it any easier. His limbs ached and trembled under the strain of his own weight. His skin felt uncomfortably wet-hot like someone had poured boiling water over him. His vision was blurred and there was a shrill sound ringing in his head, pounding rapidly to the beat of his heart. 

More concerning than the pain was the presence of a strange sensation in his chest. The feeling was similar to when he was close to Mother but instead of being reassuring it felt like he was missing something. The feeling grew more persistent as the shrill sound grew louder until every cell in his body was screaming at him that there was something of the utmost importance he had to get to.

"Shut him up will you!" A voice shouted, cutting through the haze. He stiffened, all his senses immediately jumping to high alert.

He wasn't alone.

"Sephiroth, can you hear me?" The same voice said, softer now. Lifting his head Sephiroth met the eye of a harsh looking woman. He didn't know who she was but since she didn't seem surprised by his reappearance it was likely she had something to do with it.

Despite the bone deep feeling of fatigue Sephiroth forced himself to stand. While it hurt to move the pain was already starting to fade – the blessings of an enhanced body – so that when he rose to his full height he showed no sign of weakness. He was entirely naked but having lived in a lab almost his entire life he was more than used to that. He would have preferred to have a weapon but he could just as easily kill someone with his bare hands if the situation called for it.

The woman was watching him intently, the expression on her face both cautious and calculating. She was of average height and build and appeared to be in her early thirties. Both her hair and eyes were dark brown and there was a paleness to her skin that implied a recent illness.

If it weren't for the lab coat she was wearing he would consider her entirely insignificant.

Sephiroth had learned to never trust a person wearing a lab coat during his time under Hojo's tender care and while he had no qualms about ending her life that very moment he would wait until he had learned more about his return before taking action.

She didn't speak or move towards him, just observed, awaiting what he would do. Knowing she was no threat to him he looked around to survey the room.

There were shelves of books and tables filled with various pieces of medical equipment, a large generator sat in a corner and there was a steel safe next to the only door. A few feet behind the woman as though trying to hide behind her was a nervous looking man. When Sephiroth looked at him the man squeaked and averted his gaze, shaking visibly. Disregarding the man as unimportant his eyes landed on a large woven basket that was placed on the table in the center of the room. He looked at the basket, the feeling in his chest intensifying for a moment for some reason, before turning his gaze back to the woman in front of him.

"Where am I."

To her credit the woman didn't flinch at his cold tone, she just folded her arms over her chest and kept looking at him like she had nothing to fear. 

"A secret research facility near Mideel, the location and purpose of which were only known to a select few members of the SHINRA Science Division. All of whom are dead now except for me and my assistant.” Of course SHINRA was involved in this, Sephiroth thought. It would seem that no matter how many of them he killed more rats kept sprouting from the filthy remains.

“I'm Dr. Patricia Grand, one of Professor Hojo's former assistants.” She continued. Sephiroth didn't care who she was but if she used to work for Hojo and had decided to continue his work whatever she was doing in this secret laboratory couldn't be anything good.

“And how did you bring me back.” Dr. Grand smiled, no doubt eager to talk about her great achievement. Scientists seemed to enjoy the sound of their own voice for some reason.

“A bit of background information is needed to understand how I managed to return you to a physical form.” She began, “Twenty years ago, at the start of the Wutai War, Professor Hojo started work on your first clone. He managed to create a perfect physical copy but because it had no connection to the Lifestream the body never gained consciousness. It lacked a 'soul', if you wished to call it that.” Her tone of voice made it very clear she didn't believe in such a thing as a soul. Sephiroth would like to ask her if she still felt that way when she rejoined the Lifestream.

“When you fell into the reactor at Nibelheim Hojo attempted to use the clone as a vessel to test his Reunion Theory but he was unsuccessful. He decided to use living subjects to create several more copies but instead of disposing of your first clone he entrusted it to me in case it could still be of some use.” Sephiroth almost rolled his eyes after hearing such a poor excuse. Grand looked smart and ambitious so Hojo had likely assigned this 'project' to her to get rid of her. The Professor never liked being upstaged after all.

“Five years ago, shortly after Meteor Fall when your original body perished, I delved deeper into the Reunion Theory to find a way to return your consciousness to an empty vessel...” Dr. Grand was still talking but Sephiroth was no longer listening. In the background the assistant had slowly moved over to the center table, the unknown feeling that still lingered in his chest suddenly flaring up at the movement.

When he noticed Sephiroth looking at him the assistant flinched, eyes rapidly darting around the room but always returning to the same thing.

The basket.

The feeling intensified again. Something in the back of his mind urging him to investigate.

Uncaring if Dr. Grand was still talking he started walking towards it.

What he found when he looked inside took him by surprise.

A baby.

It was smaller than any infant he had ever seen before (which wasn't saying much since he hadn't seen many to begin with) and Sephiroth couldn't help but think how delicate and fragile the small child looked. His hands twitched and he almost reached out to lift it from the basket (he had never felt the need to hold a baby before so why did he want to do so now?) but hesitated. The child was asleep, a peaceful expression on its face as it sucked on a pacifier, and he didn't want to disturb it. Didn't someone once tell him babies needed lots of sleep? Zack, maybe?

Sephiroth didn't know how long he stared at the tiny being, seconds or hours, as a deep sense of longing bloomed to life in his very being.

(What was happening to him? Why was he feeling this way? It felt like the answers were right there, like a puzzle he only needed to put together except he couldn't figure out where the pieces went.)

“My theory was correct.” He heard Dr. Grand say behind him. With some difficulty he managed to turn his gaze away from the child to look at her. Her lips were upturned and the shine in her eyes was one of great satisfaction.

No doubt she was just bursting at the seams to tell him all about the theory she had concocted.

He didn't give her the reaction she so clearly wanted but nevertheless she started to explain; “I concluded from Professor Hojo's research that Jenova cells react strongly to the presence of their offspring. The child putting out some kind of call to the parent that can be felt even in a state of near-death. I theorized that this parental instinct could be strong enough to pull you from the Lifestream so I created a child with a sample of your DNA then provided it with some incentive to put out the call. Your consciousness picked up on it from within the Lifestream and took control of the nearest empty vessel and now here we are.”

Sephiroth's mind was reeling, processing the information as the pieces fell into place.

The baby had called to him.

Its call had pulled him from the Lifestream.

The strange new feeling in his chest was a bond between a parent and their child.

His child.

He looked back into the basket, gazing at the sleeping infant in wonder. For as long as he could remember Sephiroth had longed for a family. The day he had found Mother he thought he had finally found it but what he felt then failed in comparison to what he was experiencing right now. In an instant nothing else seemed to matter any more, no grudge or hatred could hold a candle to the depth of feeling this tiny defenseless being instilled in him.

Sephiroth was glad for the years he had spent perfecting his composure for while he wanted nothing more than to take the child into his arms and never let them go he was still aware of the two pairs of eyes watching him.

He turned to face Dr. Grand again.

“What is their name?” He inquired, calmly.

Dr. Grand shrugged. “He doesn’t have one. We've just been calling him Subject Two.”

He, she said. The child was a boy. Sephiroth felt angry that they hadn't even bothered to name him but kept his expression carefully contained.

“And the boy's mother?”

“I carried him. No one else could be trusted with it nor would they have been able to properly record the findings I made.” Her face soured, “Though I can't say what I gained in information was worth the effort.”

Information. Effort. That was all this child meant to her. Just another experiment for her to use as she will.

“What will happen to him now?”

“To Subject Two? Now that you have returned he has no further use. In the event that we failed to bring you back I would have attempted to recreate the experiments Hojo performed on you. Since that won't be necessary I suppose he will be terminated.”

"Yes, I think termination will do well." Faster than the human eye could register Sephiroth rushed forward and wrapped his hand around her throat. He allowed himself a moment to watch the realization of what was about to happen dawn on her before snapping her neck with the barest flick of his wrist. Like a puppet whose strings had been cut her limbs went limp, the light fading from her eyes. Without a sliver of remorse Sephiroth let her lifeless body crumple to the floor.

The assistant screamed, scrambling backwards into a cupboard holding several empty glass containers, which wobbled and fell to the floor, shattering into a million tiny pieces.

A cry pierced the air.

The sound of the child's distress was like a hook had lodged itself in his chest, his instincts immediately urging him to provide comfort to his child.

Sephiroth glanced at the assistant who had collapsed onto the floor amongst the shards of broken glass. "Move and I will kill you." He told them. The man let out a terrified whimper but did as he was told.

Tears were running down the infant's cheeks when he returned to their side, their face red and their tiny hands balled into fists. Carefully, he lifted the boy from the basket, one hand supporting his head and the other beneath his bottom.

Sephiroth had never held a baby before but as he cradled the small body in his hands he felt a warmth he had never experienced before fill him. Transferring the boy to the crook of his arm he rocked them back and forth in a soothing motion, using his thumb to gently wipe away their tears. Slowly, the sound of their cries started to die down. After a few moments their eyes, still watery with tears, opened and looked at him.

The first thing he noticed was that their pupils were a normal round shape, not slit like his own. Sephiroth had never liked his eyes growing up, they made him feel different from everyone else, like he didn't belong.

He was glad his son would never have to experience that.

The boy stared at him with his bright blue eyes (just the barest hint of green peeking at the edges) as he reached one chubby little hand out to grab at his finger. The tiny digits wrapped around his own, gripping it tightly. Sephiroth felt his lips twitch up. The boy had quite the grip.

Now that he'd managed to calm them down he ought to decide on a name. Looking down at the child in his arms he tried to think of what would suit them.

Something strong and to the point, but not overly complicated.

Something that represented growth and perseverance despite all the odds.

Suddenly a name came to mind and just like that Sephiroth knew he'd found it.

Decision made he lowered his head until his lips brushed the crown of the boy's head and whispered the name to his son.

“Riku.”

Riku blinked up at him, letting go of his finger to yank on a lock of hair instead.

Sephiroth smiled. He'd take that as approval.

He was going to have his hands full raising Riku by himself but he vowed to do everything within his power to do right by him. His son would have a better life than him, he would make sure of that. Before they could begin their lives together there were still some loose ends that needed to be dealt with though.

Straightening up Sephiroth kept Riku securely tucked against his chest as he turned to face the assistant. “Now,” He began as he leveled the other with his coldest glare. “What to do with you?”

“Please don’t kill me!” The man pleaded, attempting to press himself further against the wall, as if the stones could in some way protect him.

“That depends on your usefulness.”

“I'll do anything, just please!” The man held his clasped hands up to him, quite literally begging for his life.

“I will need supplies. Gil, weapons, food and clothing for the boy and myself.” Sephiroth told him. The assistant nodded vigorously before scrambling up to collect the items he had requested. First was a set of clothes for himself, which were retrieved from the other room, consisting of a pair of socks, boxer briefs, grey slacks and a long sleeved black shirt as well as a pair of black boots. The clothing wasn't what he would have picked for himself but at least it was his size. He pulled on the underwear and socks, followed by the pants but left the shirt off, the skin contact seemed to be helping Riku stay calm.

While he was getting dressed the assistant had collected a large duffel bag and proceeded to pack three identical plain white outfits for Riku into it, followed by a box of formula, a bottle, a couple of diapers, wet wipes, and some baby powder. Next they opened the safe, inside was a handgun, a bracer with two Materia equipped and a large stack of Gil. The assistant brought the gun and bracer over, placing them on the table in front of him. The gun he recognized as a standard issue Turk pistol, complete with silencer. Dr. Grand hadn't mentioned there being a Turk assigned to her.

He checked the chamber, there was one bullet missing.

Placing the gun back on the table he reached for the bracer. As he slipped it on Sephiroth could feel the magic contained within the Materia call out to him. A Level 2 Fire and a Level 2 Ice, not optimal but it would do.

Lastly there was the pile of Gil which he would estimate to be about twenty thousands.

Sephiroth eyed the tall stack of bills critically.

“Where did you get the funds to keep this operation running.”

The assistant went pale.

“D-Dr. Grand had access to a hidden bank account, b-but I don't know the code to it, I swear!” A heavy silence filled the room. Sephiroth could almost hear the man's rapid heartbeat increase in pace the longer the silence drew on. No doubt the other was thinking of the late Dr. Grand and how Sephiroth had killed her without a moment's hesitation and how easy it would be for Sephiroth to do the same to him. He was tempted to let the assistant squirm for a little longer but he had other plans for the day so he just took the stacks of Gil and stuffed them in the duffel bag.

“How far to the nearest town?”

The assistant swallowed nervously. “There's a small town on the next island over. If you go north then follow the shore you can see the island in the distance. The water can be crossed at low tide. From the other side it's just a few more miles east to find the town. It should take about two hours at most.” That was closer than he'd been expecting. He wasn't very familiar with the area surrounding Mideel or any of its neighboring islands but that didn't matter as long as they had somewhere to stay for the night, perhaps even permanently.

Now, with supplies, directions, and Riku tucked safely in his arms Sephiroth had everything he needed.

“Go.” He said to the assistant. The man clearly didn't need to be told twice as he immediately ran for the door.

As he reached for the doorknob Sephiroth picked up the gun and shot him.

The man went down with a pained gurgle, the force of his body collapsing against the door pushing it open. The body hit the ground with a dull thud.

Riku let out a whine from all the commotion so Sephiroth dropped the gun to stroke his son's head. “Sshh, sshh, everything is okay, there's nothing to be afraid of.” Taking the pacifier he placed it in the boy's mouth. Riku quieted down instantly as he happily sucked at it.

Now that the vermin had been dealt with it was time for them to leave.

Sephiroth placed Riku back in the basket so he could pull on the shirt and boots, throwing the duffel bag over his shoulder as he took Riku back into his arms. Stepping over the corpse of the assistant they came into a narrow hallway with two doors on each side. One of the doors on the left was open, showing a small bedroom with a chest that had clothing spilling out of it. At the end of the hall was a flight of steps leading upward.

At the top of the stairs was a heavy iron door, an electronic lock mounted on the wall next to it. Sephiroth placed his hand against the door and pushed. There was no movement at first, then the metal started to creak as it was slowly forced to open. He kept pushing until the gap widened enough for them to pass through it.

On the other side of the door was a dimly lit cave. The air was stale and dank so he put his other arm around Riku as well so the cold couldn't touch him and quickly started to walk down the path. After a minute the cave grew lighter and a breeze of warm air brushed his skin. As they passed around a corner a bright opening appeared ahead of them.

Outside the sun shone bright overhead causing Riku to squint and turn his head into Sephiroth's chest. As they headed north they occasionally encountered some low level monsters which Sephiroth quickly disposed of with a few Fires. The shore soon came into view, bringing the smell of salt water with it. Just as the assistant said he could see land on the other side of the water. Unfortunately the tide was high at the moment so crossing by foot wasn't an option. They could wait it out but Sephiroth would rather reach the village as soon as possible.

Looking down at Riku he saw the boy had fallen asleep, the rocking motion having lulled him to sleep while they were walking. Looking back at the water Sephiroth considered his options. He could attempt to cross the water and hope it wouldn't get too deep or he could fly them to the other side. The water looked calm at the moment but that could change all too quickly and while it wouldn’t pose a problem for him he didn’t want to risk Riku's safety.

That left only one option.

With one last look at Riku's sleeping face Sephiroth called his wing into being and lifted off the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God I hate summer. Doesn't Mother Nature understand that I am but a humble European who can't handle temperatures over 30 degrees?
> 
> Anyway here's another chapter I'm gonna get ice cream before I melt into a puddle.

It was late in the afternoon when he came to the town.

After he'd flown them across the water Sephiroth had dispelled his wing and continued the rest of the journey on foot. While it would have been faster to fly he didn't want to risk anyone seeing him. It would cause quite a stir if rumor of a one winged man flying over the island were to start on the same day he happened to arrive.

The village was the exact opposite of Midgar in every way. There was no noise, no people yelling and crowding each other, no pollution. The air was crisp and smelled of the ocean, there were green gardens and palm trees swinging in the breeze while the gentle waves lapped at the sandy shore. The small town appeared untouched by the greed and corruption he knew humans to be capable of, instead there was a sense of peacefulness as he looked out over the town.

The thought of raising Riku in a place like this didn't sound so terrible.

Following the path down into the village he passed a house where he saw a young woman in a yellow sun dress watering a small vegetable plot. She was humming what sounded like an old nursery rhyme, the tune was vaguely familiar even though Sephiroth was sure no one had ever sung it to him and it actually made him stop walking to listen to it.

The woman turned around and nearly dropped her watering can when she saw him standing there.

"Gaia! You startled me.” She said, holding a hand to her chest.

Sephiroth kept himself from tensing. It was unlikely that she knew who he was but the possibility that she might have recognized him had him on edge.

"My apologies, it was not my intention.” He said, keeping his voice light even as he prepared to summon his wing and get them to safety at the slightest hint of trouble.

She waved her hand. "Oh no, it's quite alright. I get lost in thought sometimes and I just wasn't expecting someone to be standing there.” She smiled and his worry abated somewhat. There was no sign of recognition on her face so he really must have just startled her as she said.

“I haven't seen you around before, are you new to town or just passing through?” She asked after she'd placed her watering can on the ground.

"New. I've just arrived and was hoping to find a place to settle down for the night, though I'm considering finding a permanent residence.” He would have to make sure the town was safe before he made a decision but he wanted to find them somewhere to stay as soon as possible, always having to look over his shoulder and constantly being on the move couldn't be good for a baby's development.

"Well in that case let me be the first to welcome you to the Destiny Islands. I'm Hiromi.” She held out her hand to him. Sephiroth assessed her; she had tan skin, short, bouncy brown curls, and her eyes were a deep shade of blue but it was her smile that was the most striking.

It reminded him of Zack.

He took her hand.

"Sephiroth," When she showed no reaction to his name he continued, "and this is my son, Riku." He indicated to the sleeping boy. Hiromi leaned in closer and while his first instinct was to keep Riku away from her he couldn't sense any danger from her so he squashed the urge down and allowed her to approach.

"He's adorable! He looks just like you.” She cooed, her voice lowered so she wouldn't wake him. “How old is he?”

Sephiroth frowned. “I am unsure. I only recently found out I had a son when I heard the news that his mother had passed away and there was no one to care of him.” He had thought of what to say during the walk over. He knew that by choosing to stay in a village he wouldn't be able to avoid people asking questions but this way he had an excuse for when he didn't know the answer.

Hiromi gave him a sympathetic look. 

“I'm sorry for your loss.”

He shook his head. “Don't be. We weren't particularly close but she did give me Riku so I'm grateful to her for that.” That was the truth at least. He was grateful to Dr. Grand for bringing Riku into his life and he had made sure to show her that gratitude in the form of a swift death.

Hiromi looked a little surprised by his reaction but she seemed to accept his explanation easily enough since she didn't press the issue further.

“It must have come as quite a surprise to suddenly find out you had a son then?”

“Yes. I was shocked at first but when I saw Riku and realized that he was my son I knew I would do anything for him.” He looked down at Riku sleeping peacefully in his arms. His eyes softened at the sight. “All I want is to give him the best life I can.” Sephiroth wasn't sure why he was telling her all this, they were practically strangers after all, but there was just something about her that made him feel like he could trust her.

“Well if you need a place to stay I'd like to help. There's no Inn in this town but I have a guest room you can use for the night. I'll even throw in some dinner, free of charge!” She grinned.

Sephiroth blinked at her.

“You would let us stay in your home even though we've only just met?” He didn't understand why someone would do something like that. She didn't know him, didn't know if he could be trusted so how could she say something like that like it was nothing?

“Of course! The first thing you need to know about Destiny Island is that we take care of each other here. That includes the two of you now.” She declared, as though it really was that simple.

He couldn't help but stare.

Never had he been so easily accepted; respected and feared, yes, but not accepted.

Sephiroth didn't know what to say to her, didn't know how to explain what such small gesture meant to him so in the end he simply settled for, “Thank you.”

“You're welcome.” She said, smiling as she gestured for him to follow her inside.

As she pushed the door open the warm scent of broth and herbs wafted from the kitchen. There was a large pot on the stove, simmering away at a low heat. “I'm afraid it's just soup for dinner tonight. I don't usually cook anything fancy when my husband is away.” Hiromi said, lifting the lid of the pot to stir the soup. Sephiroth put his bag on the floor and took a seat at the kitchen island.

“Soup is fine, thank you.”

“No need to keep thanking me, hon. Dinner should be done soon, it just needs to simmer for a few more minutes.”

Before he could reply Riku let out a whimper that quickly turned into a loud cry.

“I think someone's hungry.” She was right. While not as pressing as the feeling of distress he had felt from Riku earlier there was still a sensation of something urging him that he needed to provide food for his son.

“I have some formula with me.” He said, digging through the bag as he rocked Riku with his other hand to try and soothe him.

“I can heat up a bottle on the stove.” Hiromi offered. Sephiroth handed her the bottle and the box of formula, watching as she measured out a precise amount of formula and placed it in the bottle then added enough water to fill it. Filling a small pot with warm water she placed it on the stove to let it heat up. Riku's crying was becoming more incessant but other than continue to rock him there was nothing he could do but wait. Before the water could come to a boil Hiromi turned off the stove and held the bottle in the pot of warm water, swishing the bottle around for a minute before she took it out. She touched the nipple to her wrist and a small drop of formula came out, to test the temperature, he realized.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.” When he took the bottle from her he could feel it was lukewarm. Holding the nipple to his son's mouth Riku instantly latched on to it and started sucking.

Hiromi took a seat across from him, watching with a soft smile as he fed Riku.

“Have you taken care of a baby before?” She asked.

“No.” He admitted. He honestly had no idea what he was doing and the thought terrified him a little. He had always known what to do, always excelled at every task and challenge he was given but taking care of a child wasn't a mission he could complete with a swing of his sword. 

“Well you're doing great so far.” Sephiroth relaxed a little after hearing her say that. He might not know everything he needed to just yet but he could learn and do the best he could.

Riku had finished half his bottle already and was starting to doze off again, his eyes drooping as his frantic sucking slowed as he nodded off for a second before jolting awake again to continue guzzling his meal.

There weren't many thing Sephiroth would consider adorable but watching his son struggle to stay awake so he could keep eating was definitely one of them.

When the bottle was almost empty Riku turned his head away, face scrunching up as he let out a small whine. Sephiroth frowned, trying to feel through their link what was wrong but all he could sense was a vague feeling of discomfort.

“You have to burp him now.” Hiromi said, making him look at her. She must have seen the confusion on his face because she explained; “Babies swallow a lot of air when they're drinking and it needs to come out or they might get an upset stomach.”

That made sense, Sephiroth supposed. Never the less he was unsure how to proceed. How do you _make_ someone burp?

“How do I burp him?” He decided to ask. Hiromi got up to fetch something from the kitchen.

“Here,” She handed him a kitchen towel. “Place that over your shoulder, and maybe move your hair out of the way. Babies will sometimes spit up milk when you're burping them and you don't want that all over your hair. Now hold him to your chest with his chin resting on your shoulder and just lightly pat his back.” He did as instructed, carefully positioning Riku like she said and giving his back the gentlest taps he could manage. Wondering how long he was supposed to keeping doing this and if he was even doing it right (was he using too much pressure? Not enough? What if he couldn't get Riku to burp at all?) it almost surprised him when Riku suddenly let out a small burp of air.

“There you go.” Hiromi said, taking the towel, which had a small blotch of formula on it, and throwing it in the hamper. Moving Riku back into the cradle of his arms Sephiroth stared in amazement as the boy let out a yawn and promptly fell back asleep.

“Typical. Just finished eating and already asleep again. Babies are all the same.” Hiromi chuckled. Sephiroth was just glad to know it was normal for infants to sleep so much since he'd had no idea.

He had the feeling that was going to be the general theme of his life for the foreseeable future.

“You're very knowledgeable when it comes to childcare. Do you have any children yourself?” He asked. For a moment Hiromi appeared taken aback by his question but then she laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of her head.

“Oh, no, I don't yet. I only know what to do because my mother was a midwife and I used to go with her when she visited new mothers to help them take care of their newborns.” She moved into the kitchen and took two bowls out of a cupboard and filled them with soup, placing one of them in front of him as she took the seat across from him. “I suppose I learned a lot from her, though my mother did always say there was no one way to raise a child since all children have different needs. Babies are easy to figure out though since they basically just want food, sleep, attention, or a diaper change.” Sephiroth made a mental note to keep those things in mind next time he wasn't sure what to do as he dug into his soup.

They chatted about meaningless things over dinner. Hiromi asked where he was from and he told her he used to live in Midgar but had taken to traveling in recent years. She asked about the places he'd been and what he did there. So he told her about some of the places he'd gone on missions and gave some vague descriptions of the things he'd done there, which mostly came down to hunting monsters. “You fought monsters by yourself?” She asked, surprised. Apparently monsters weren't very common on the Destiny Islands, though the woods had a couple of low level monsters, as he had already found out, but they tended to stay away from the village. Sometimes a monster would appear at the beach though and usually the fishermen would have to deal with it or they wouldn't be able to get to their boats. Hiromi told him the story of the time her husband and his friends had to take down a Sea Worm and one of them had thrown a grenade into its mouth causing it to explode and cover them all in chunks of viscera. Hiromi had refused to let him back into the house and had to hose him down in the garden before allowing him to come inside to take a proper shower.

Sephiroth chuckled and wondered when the last time was he had laughed with someone else. (He couldn't recall.)

They stayed at the table long after dinner. At some point during the evening Riku woke up again and Hiromi showed him how to change a diaper, for which he was very grateful because there were a lot more steps involved than he'd expected.

By the time evening turned to night Sephiroth was more tired than he could recall having been since the Wutai war. Apparently being brought back to life, finding out he had a son, moving to a new town, and learning how to take care of newborn in less than twelve hours was enough to exhaust even him.

Hiromi glanced at the clock. “Is it that late already? Let me show you the guest room so you can get some sleep since you'll be needing all the rest you can get that.” According to her he could expect Riku to wake several times during the night to be fed and changed. It was a good thing then that he had some experience with all nighters and power naps.

Following Hiromi upstairs she led him to the guest room which was a simply decorated room with a double bed.

“Are you sure you'll be alright sharing a bed? I don't have a crib but I can find a basket for Riku to sleep in.” Remembering the basket he'd found Riku sleeping in in the lab Sephiroth shook his head.

“We'll manage for the night.” He assured her.

“Alright.” She nodded. “In the morning we can go see the Mayor about getting the two of you set up in a place of your own. There's a couple of empty houses in town that I know of, including the one just two doors down. You'd have to check it out first of course but it would be great to have you move in close by. We'd practically be neighbors!” She smiled widely for a moment before her face turned red. “Not that I'm saying you have to pick that house! You can choose whichever one you like! It's entirely up to you!” She quickly said, embarrassment tinting her voice.

Sephiroth was surprised by the fact that she apparently wanted them to stick around. He'd never been good at making friends, his cold exterior and unapproachable demeanor meant few people ever tried to get close to him but it would seem Hiromi wasn't bothered by this if she actually wanted them to move in next door to her.

“It would be nice to be neighbors.” He said after a moment of silence.

Hiromi blinked at him, clearly not having expected his response, but then she smiled. “I agree.”

Sephiroth found himself smiling back.

Before the moment could turn awkward Hiromi cleared her throat. “If we want to get an early start to the day tomorrow we should probably head to bed soon.” She said, “The bathroom is at the end of the hall in case you want freshen up in the morning. If you need anything don’t hesitate to ask, okay?” He nodded and bid her a good night.

Feeling the exhaustion of the day come over him Sephiroth made his way over to the bed and very carefully placed Riku down on top of the covers before flicking off the light.

Crawling into bed with one arm tucked safely around his son Sephiroth fell asleep within seconds.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to add some Final Fantasy cameos because if Kingdom Hearts can do it then so can I

When Sephiroth awoke the clock on the nightstand read nine AM. He was tempted to go back to sleep but since they had a full day planned he knew he had to bite the bullet and get out of bed.

Riku was sleeping peacefully beside him, back to looking like a completely innocent baby instead of the screaming hellion he'd turned into during the night. Every three hours Sephiroth had woken up to the sound of Riku's cries, making him jump out of bed to try and figure out what it was the infant needed and if he took a second too long to give the boy his bottle or change his diaper it was practically impossible to get him to stop crying and go back to sleep.

Sephiroth understood why parenting was typically considered a two person endeavor now.

Careful not to disturb Riku he slid out of bed to head to the bathroom, leaving the door open so he'd be able to hear him waking up.

After splashing some water on his face Sephiroth looked at himself in the mirror.

Glowing green eyes stared back at him.

The mark of SOLDIER.

While SOLDIER had only been a small group even at its height enough people knew of the telltale sign of those that had Mako energy flowing through their veins to recognize one of its members.

Then there was the silver hair.

The Silver Demon of Wutai, that was how he came to be known during the early years of the war. He'd barely been more than a child back then, fourteen years old but already a SOLDIER First Class, a warrior without peer, and SHINRA's perfect poster boy. Sephiroth had always despised pictures, often just walking away when he caught sight of a camera, but as he rose in the ranks and eventually became the General it became more and more difficult to avoid the armies of rabid fans and reporters attempting to take pictures of him every chance they got. The Turks had cracked down on unofficial distribution of his image but that didn't stop the truly determined from spreading them regardless.

Sephiroth knew he'd appeared in enough papers and gossip rags over the years that there was a high possibility that someone might recognize him. While that could become a problem it wasn't an insurmountable one. After all, 'General Sephiroth of the SHINRA Military' had been reported Killed In Action ten years ago and if he'd actually been alive this whole time he would have been in his thirties by now. He hadn't aged a day since he was thrown into the Mako Reactor at Nibelheim though, what with being crystallized for five years and then floating in the Lifestream as a formless spirit for the other five.

If someone happened to recognize him his apparent age created quite a hole in their theory.

Should anybody realize that he shared a striking resemblance to the late General he could always claim they were distantly related. His origin had always been kept secret, even from himself, so who would question him if he were to announce himself as an estranged cousin to a long dead war hero?

The bond suddenly flared to life as Riku woke up, cutting through his thoughts. Sephiroth could already hear the boy starting to fuss so he left the bathroom and his worries behind. There was no point to agonizing over what-ifs anyway, he would just have to deal with things as they happened and weather them as he always had.

Returning to the bedroom Sephiroth took Riku into his arms, silencing his cries as he gave him his pacifier. That ought to buy him a few minutes to get a bottle ready.

Making his way downstairs he saw Hiromi was already up and moving about in the kitchen. “Good morning.” She greeted as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Good morning. I hope we didn't keep you up last night.” Sephiroth returned. Reaching into the fridge he took out the bottle he had prepped in advance after the last time Riku had woken him, giving it a good shake to make sure the formula was mixed properly.

“Oh no, my husband is a terrible snorer so I'm used to sleeping with earplugs.” She winked, placing a pot of water on the stove to heat up before taking out a frying pan. “How do you take your eggs?”

“Sunny side up.”

“Excellent choice, my friend. Or should I say _egg_ cellent?” Sephiroth blinked, looking at Hiromi who could barely contain her smile, her lips twitching up at the corners.

“I've suddenly lost my appetite.” He said, deeply disappointed.

Hiromi immediately burst into laughter. “I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.” She said through her giggles. “You should have seen your face, it was priceless.”

“Please never make such a bad joke again.” He said, seriously, turning to the pot of hot water on the stove so she couldn't see the hint of a smile on his face.

“Alright, alright. No more bad egg puns in the morning, promise.” She said, bumping her arm against his. As they stood at the stove together getting breakfast ready they discussed their plans for the day. First they had to ask the Mayor for permission to rent the house two doors down, which Hiromi assured him wouldn't be a problem since the Mayor was always happy to have new people move in. After that they would check out the house and see what they would need to make the place livable. The house would be fully furnished already but they would have to check if anything needed replacing. Then it was down to the shops to buy all the necessities he'd be needing for a permanent stay in their new home.

Despite what would no doubt be a tiring day Sephiroth was excited. He'd never done this before, shop for a home. When he'd worked for SHINRA they had provided him with an apartment which came equipped with what little things he needed. He had never gone out of his way to try and make that place a home though since, in his eyes, it hadn't been one, it was just a place where he existed outside of missions. Now that he had the chance to make up for lost time he intended to enjoy it to the fullest.

They had a quick breakfast and after Sephiroth had burped and changed Riku they were off.

The walk into town was pleasant, Hiromi pointing things out to him on the way, including the house he and Riku would soon be living in if all went well.

It was a simple house made of painted white brick, with a small covered patio out the front and a low fence marking the garden, which was overgrown with wildflowers. Sephiroth wondered if he should take up gardening.

Suddenly he remembered a flower girl, the last of the Cetra. He remembered she used to grow flowers in the Slums, which was said to be impossible. He remembered she had tried to stop him, to save the Planet, and he had killed her for it.

Looking at the flowers again Sephiroth frowned. It would probably be best if he just let them be, the flowers would likely wither away under his touch if he tried to tend to them anyway.

Pushing his dark thoughts away before his mood could dampen the day they continued their walk.

Stopping by the Mayor's place to get their living arrangements set up didn’t take long at all, a brief explanation and a good word from Hiromi and Sephiroth was handed a key and told he'd get a reduction on his rent until Riku was old enough to attend school.

The whole exchange didn't take more than fifteen minutes.

With a jovial smile the old Mayor clapped him on the shoulder. “It's not an easy thing, raising a child all by yourself, so if there's ever anything you need help with don't hesitate to let me know.” Sephiroth nodded and wondered if there was something in the water that made the people of Destiny Island so friendly.

They walked back to the house and as he put the key in the door and unlocked it Sephiroth could picture himself repeating this action many times over the years to come until the action became a mundane part of his every day life but for now it felt like a milestone, the first step in their new lives.

The house smelled of dust so they threw open the windows to let some air in as they looked around. The first floor consisted of a large living room with an open kitchen, similar to Hiromi's place. The furniture was a bit dated but still in good condition and all the appliances were in working order, which was a relief. Upstairs there were four rooms divided by a hallway, the master bedroom and bathroom on the left and two smaller bedrooms to the right. It was clear the rooms hadn't been done up in a while but aside from a rather garish floral print in one of the bedrooms the decor wasn't too bad.

Other than being in need of a good dusting the house was ready to be moved into without anything having to be thrown out or replaced.

“So, what do you think? We can still tell the Mayor you changed your mind if you don't like it.” Hiromi said after they had returned downstairs.

Sephiroth shook his head, already having grown attached to the quaint little house. “I think Riku and I will be happy here.” He smiled at the boy in his arms, who didn't really seem to notice, too busy trying to stuff his fist into his mouth.

Hiromi clapped excitedly and declared she would be cooking them something special tonight to celebrate them officially moving in. He tried to tell her she didn't have to do that after all she had already done for them but she insisted. Sephiroth was quickly starting to learn that there was no point to arguing with her because once she'd set her mind on something there was no changing it.

After a short break they headed back into town to do some shopping. First on the list were the things he needed to take care of Riku so Hiromi lead him to a store that had everything for infants and young children.

The store was quite large for such a small town which was due to the number of births going up in recent years, Hiromi explained. As they wandered the store Hiromi pointed out all the things he was going to be needing; spare bottles and extra formula, an almost ridiculous amount of diapers—which she assured him he would run through before he even knew it— cream, powder, wetwipes, burp cloths, a changing pad, a baby bath and soap, and a dozen other things he didn't know the use for but were apparently necessary. By the time they reached the clothing aisle their shopping trolley was already piled high. Sephiroth looked at the mountain of things then down to Riku, wondering how such a tiny human being could need so many things.

After he'd added several new, colorful outfits to the pile he looked over at Hiromi who was holding a green romper with a blue sailboat stitched on the front in her hands, her eyes alight with eager anticipation.

Sephiroth came to stand beside her. “When is the due date?”

Hiromi startled, her mouth opening and closing like she was about to say something several times before letting out a sigh instead. “Is it that obvious?”

“No, just the look in your eyes.” Anyone else probably wouldn't have noticed it but Sephiroth had been trained to pick up on the tiniest shift in a person's expression. Hiromi was especially easy to read though, wearing her heart on her sleeve for the whole world to see.

“I'm only three months along. I'd tell you to keep it a secret but I'm sure everyone in town already knows from the way my husband's been strutting around like a proud Chocobo for the past few weeks.” She said, her whole face aglow with happiness.

“Congratulations.” Sephiroth was happy for her, she deserved the same love and happiness he'd found in Riku in a child of her own.

“Thank you. Now, let's see what else you're going to be needing...” They picked out a few more things before dragging their near overflowing shopping cart to the register.

The woman behind the register blinked at the large pile of items before starting to ring them up. “Hello Hiromi. Who's your friend?” She said.

“Hello, Mrs. Dincht. This is Sephiroth, he just moved here with his son, Riku.” The woman, Mrs. Dincht, peered over at Riku and gave a smile, her eyes crinkling.

“Well isn't he a peach. Your first?”

“Yes.”

“Then here,” She took a book from the shelf behind her and handed it to him. It was titled; 'First time parents guide to infant care'. “This should answer any questions you might have.” Sephiroth nodded, it would be a good idea to have a book he could turn to when he didn't know what to do, since he couldn't keep running to Hiromi for every little thing.

“How much?”

“On the house, dear. Wouldn't be proper of me to recommend you a book and then make you pay for it, not with everything else you're already having to buy.” She gestured at the pile of baby items. “I remember how expensive young children can be, though they don't get cheaper with age, I tell you!” Sephiroth thanked her and the three of them made smalltalk as Mrs. Dincht rang up their purchases. After everything was packed and paid for they found themselves with a problem.

On the counter sat six bags and four large boxes of baby supplies.

“We may have gone a little overboard.” Hiromi said, eyeing the large pile with a grimace. Sephiroth couldn't help but agree, through some strategic stacking he might have been able to carry everything but since he only had one arm free that complicated things.

“Do you need some help getting all this home?” Mrs. Dincht offered.

“Oh, that might be handy, yes.” They gratefully accepted.

“Just a moment.” She moved from behind the counter to a door tucked away in the corner, opening it to reveal a staircase she cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted; “Zell! I need you to make a delivery! Put down that card game and come down!” She waited a moment and when no response came she shouted again, “Zell!”

“I'm coming! You don't need to yell!” The stomping of feet could be heard descending the stairs as a young teen with spiky blond hair came into view. Sephiroth had to blink, at first glance the boy looked a lot like Cloud but aside from their similar hairstyles there weren't really any other similarities. Zell was expressive while Cloud had always kept his true feelings hidden and where the teen was peppy and upbeat the man was guarded and serious.

It made him wonder if Cloud had been like this when he was younger, before he'd come to Midgar.

“I only yell because you never listen, boy.” Mrs. Dincht said, yanking the boy's ear. The teenager winced, hopping on one foot as he was dragged behind his mother.

“Ow! Ma, quit it!” Zell whined, managing to dislodge her grip on his ear. The teen winced, rubbing the sore appendage until he appeared to notice them and grinned widely.

“Heya, y'all need something delivered?”

“Yes, though it's quite a lot.” Hiromi pointed at their shopping pile.

“No worries, just tell me where it needs to go and I'll get it there faster than you can say Haste.” Sephiroth and Hiromi shared a look but then Hiromi shrugged, if Zell was willing to make the trip for them they couldn't complain, so Sephiroth gave him the address. “You can just leave it on the front porch.” He instructed.

“Alright, catch you in a jiffy.” Zell said before slinging a bag over each arm and racing out the door. They stared after the teenager as Mrs. Dincht let out a sigh. 

“That boy has too much energy.”

Deciding they had best get on with the rest of their shopping they said goodbye to Mrs. Dincht and headed down to the carpenter's shop around the corner to pick out a crib.

The shop had several cribs on display, most of them painted either pink or blue or a neutral white, but Sephiroth found himself drawn to one made of a sturdy dark wood. The crib was simple yet elegant, lacking some of the embellishments the others models had but he'd never been one for unnecessary decorations anyway so that was all the better. He called the shopkeeper over and told him he'd like to purchase it. The man was only too happy to sell it to him since it was apparently an older model and had been sitting in the store for a while, the man even gave him a discount on it and promised to have it delivered first thing tomorrow morning.

Then Hiromi dragged him to _another_ store to buy some basic necessities that wouldn’t be found at the house; toiletries, cleaning supplies, towels and bedding, and some more clothes for himself. They left the store with three bags between them and decided to call it a day.

When they got back to the house they saw Zell sitting on the porch, flipping through a stack of cards. When the teen heard them approach he waved at them and jumped to his feet. “I watched your stuff for you.”

“We appreciate the help, Zell.” Hiromi said.

“Thank you,” Sephiroth added, digging in his bag and pulling out some Gil. “For your trouble.”

The boy gasped as he took the bill. “A hundred Gil! Thanks mister, now I can finally get that tattoo I've been saving up for!” Zell grinned and gave them another wave as he said goodbye and sprinted off before they could do so much as blink.

“Oh dear, I wonder what his mother has to say about that.” Sephiroth could hazard a guess, it wouldn't be a quiet discussion that was certain.

After they brought their shopping inside and put some things away Riku started to fuss, realizing it was getting late they returned to Hiromi's house where he fixed up a bottle for Riku while Hiromi got started on dinner. He watched as she skillfully diced herbs and vegetables and added them to a large pot of stock, then lightly dusted two pieces of fish with flower before placing them in a pan. Sephiroth had never cooked anything that hadn't come pre-packaged but now that he was trying to live a normal life he was going to have to learn how to cook so he was trying to pick up some techniques by watching Hiromi.

When the fish was done Hiromi grabbed two deep plates and ladeled a generous helping of vegetables onto them before placing the fish on top.

“Here we are, pan-fried cod with vegetable stew. A Destiny Islands special!” She said, placing a plate in front of him. The fish was a perfect, golden-brown color, the meat flaking apart as he pressed his fork into it. The stew was spiced with paprika and the vegetables were tender and bursting with flavor. When he complimented her on the food Hiromi flushed and smiled.

“I'll give you the recipe.”

After dinner Sephiroth thanked her again for all her help, which she again insisted wasn't necessary but he still felt that it was. With a promise that he'd come by again tomorrow so they could finish the rest of their shopping Hiromi saw them off, waving at them from her door until he got to their house and stepped inside.

It had been another long day and while he would have liked to go straight to bed Sephiroth knew he had to at least clean the bedroom first before he could do so. After dusting and giving the room a thorough suck with the ancient vacuum he'd found in a closet downstairs he changed the sheets and sat heavily on the bed.

He used to be able to go three days without sleeping but it would seem he hadn't yet fully recovered from being brought back to life.

Noticing that Riku was already drowsing he figured he might as well go to bed and get some rest before his son decided to wake him again in a few hours.

Sephiroth flicked off the light and with Riku tucked safely slept at ease in their new home.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a bit longer to come out but about halfway through I really wasn't feeling what I'd written so far so I decided to delete it all and start from scratch. I like the second version of this chapter a lot more which shows because it ended up being 9 pages long, whoops ;P
> 
> I also might have gotten a little distracted and wrote 3000 words for a one shot that came to me out of nowhere but I'll try to commit myself to one project at a time so yall don't have to wait too long on the next chapter.

The first couple of days after they'd moved into their new home had been hectic to say the least. Sephiroth had cleaned the whole house from top to bottom, moving everything he didn't need into one of the spare rooms, then he'd gotten to work on sorting through and assembling all of Riku's new things.

The crib came pre-assembled, luckily, so all he had to do was carry it upstairs and put the mattress in. The changing station went on top of the dresser in their bedroom, a stack of diapers and all the other necessities were stashed in the top drawer with all of Riku's clothes taking up the second and third ones (Sephiroth's own clothes ended up squeezed into the bottom drawer). The extra bottles went into one of the kitchen cupboards, all of Riku's new toys were strewn about the living room, and the baby bath was set up in the bathroom.

His first attempt at giving Riku a bath had been one of the most harrowing experiences of Sephiroth's life.

How was he supposed to wash a slippery, squirming child while keeping his head from going under? On top of being completely unaware of what he was doing Riku made it very clear that he did not enjoy being forced to have a bath. He cried the whole time Sephiroth awkwardly held him in the water, screaming as loud as his little lungs could manage then somehow getting even louder when Sephiroth shifted his hold so he could wet Riku's head.

Needless to say they were both very glad when bath time was over.

While Riku still didn't enjoy bathing Sephiroth had gotten better at it with time so that he managed to get Riku cleaned up and looking sparkling clean in just a few minutes.

The same couldn't be said for him, unfortunately.

While Sephiroth had purchased a wide variety of burp cloths Riku either had very bad aim or just really enjoyed spewing up all over him as the back of his shirt often ended up with a wet, milky streak running down it (he'd learned his lesson and always tied his hair up after he'd forgotten to brush it aside once and Riku had covered the long silver strands in regurgitated milk). As gross as he'd found it at first nowadays Sephiroth found himself weighing if his clothes were actually dirty enough before he decided to get changed as there was often no point to pulling on a clean shirt since it would end up covered in baby spit again in a matter of minutes anyway.

Being a parent was messy business.

Exhausting too.

Between feedings, play time, putting Riku down for a nap, and taking care of all the housework Sephiroth didn't have much in the way of free time.

It wasn't just Riku that was keeping him busy either.

Apparently gossip traveled fast in small towns since it only took a few days for people to start coming over to introduce themselves and welcome them to town, often with the gift of food. Within the first week Sephiroth had received more baked goods than he knew what to do with and his freezer was stuffed to the brim with casseroles.

For Sephiroth, who had never been accustomed to being around people, it took some getting used to.

The first couple of visits had been a bit awkward. Sephiroth hadn't known what to do since he'd never had visitors before but their new neighbors didn't seem to mind. Mostly they just asked him questions about himself (which he tried to answer as honestly as he could), told him things about the town (through which he mostly just nodded), and gushed over how adorable Riku was (which immediately made Sephiroth like them).

Most of the people who came over had children of their own so when they learned he was raising Riku by himself they gave him lots of advice on taking care of a young child. The book Mrs. Dincht had given him had answered a lot of the questions he had but it was nice to have some tips from people with real life experience. Things like how to calm Riku down to get him to go to sleep or how to deal with a diaper rash.

Still, there were some things they couldn't help him with and it was those things that worried Sephiroth the most.

Like himself Riku wasn't fully human, his body had Jenova cells and Sephiroth had no way of knowing if children born with Jenova cells developed differently from other children. Riku appeared to be growing at a normal rate but what if there were already abnormalities he was unaware of? Were there certain things he ought to be paying extra attention to? Would Riku develop his heightened senses and strength when he grew older?

Would Riku, like himself, one day learn of his origins and feel contempt for the rest of the human race?

Was Sephiroth the right person to be raising him?

Sephiroth had too many questions and no one to turn to for answers.

As much as he hated to admit it Hojo would probably have been his best shot. The Professor had kept notes on everything, including Sephiroth's growth from an infant to young adult. Those papers could have given him some insight on what to expect from Riku's own development. All of Hojo's work was destroyed though, blown up with the rest of SHINRA HQ, and while there might still be some of Hojo's former assistant cooped up somewhere there was no way to find out where they might be hiding.

Which meant the only place he could go where he might be able to find some answers was the hidden lab near Mideel.

“What's troubling you?” Hiromi asked, shaking him from his thoughts. Sephiroth blinked, realizing he'd zoned out halfway through cutting a carrot and had been staring at his knife for some time. Hiromi was teaching him how to cook so they were in her kitchen working on dinner together. After she'd made him chop up a potato for inspection she'd declared him 'decent with a knife' and given him the task of chopping up the rest of their ingredients while she worked on the meat. Sighing, he continued chopping.

“I'm worried about Riku.” He admitted.

“Why? Is he sick?” She asked, leaning over to look at the boy. Sephiroth had Riku tied to his chest using a wrap he'd bought so he could have his hands free while he carried him around. Riku had just woken up from a nap and was calmly sucking on his pacifier, entirely unaware of Sephiroth's inner turmoil.

“No. At least I don't think so. There's a lot of things I don't know though, that's the problem.” Frowning, Sephiroth grabbed another carrot and quickly cut it into bits. “How am I supposed to take care of him when I don't even know if there's something wrong with him? For all I know something could have happened when Riku was born and I'd have no way of knowing about it. For Gaia's sake, I don't even know his blood type let alone if there's something more serious I should be concerned about.” Feeling frustrated he brought the knife down with such force that it got lodged in the cutting board. Blinking at the blade buried a full inch into the solid wood block Sephiroth took a deep breath and pulled it out, placing the knife down so he wouldn't wreck the cutting board any more than he already had.

“Well, isn't there somebody you can ask? I know you said his mother passed away but if he was born in a hospital maybe they have a file you can look in to?” Hiromi said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Maybe.” Sephiroth let out a sigh, “It's worth checking out at least. I won't be able bring Riku with me though since it's quite a long journey and I might encounter some high-level monsters on the way.” There was nothing out there that posed a real threat to him but he'd rather not risk Riku's safety.

There was also no way he was bringing Riku anywhere near the lab again. He'd sooner burn the place down without ever getting any answers than consider the thought of bringing his son back to the place where he was nothing more than an experiment.

“I could watch him for you if you want.” Hiromi offered.

Sephiroth turned to her.

“I wouldn’t want to impose.”

She waved a hand at him, “He's such a quiet baby I'm sure I'll have no problem with him at all. Besides, you can just return the favor when this one is born and I'm in need a day off.” She said, patting her stomach as she shot him a wink.

Sephiroth exhaled a laugh, “Deal.”

With his worries eased for the moment they continued cooking. Soon all their prep work was done and Hiromi assembled all their ingredients into a large pan which she then placed in the oven. As they waited for dinner to cook they chatted about lighter topics until they heard the sound of a door opening and closing followed by a shout of “Honey, I'm home!” as Hiromi's husband walked into the room.

Sero was a cheerful young man with an overabundance of energy. He was always bouncing around, got easily excited about even the littlest things, and was able to keep up an endless stream of conversation.

He also had a terrible tendency to put his foot in his mouth.

(The first time they'd met Sero asked him if his hair color was natural since he'd only ever seen old people with gray hair before. Sephiroth had blinked, letting a moment of awkward silence pass before replying that it was. Sero had just smiled as Hiromi let out a sigh and apologized on her husband's behalf.)

“Oh, Sephiroth, I see Hiromi's tricked you into playing her cooking lackey again. Better watch out, one of these days she might not let you leave.” Sero 'warned' him, jokingly.

“I'm sure I'll be fine.” Sephiroth replied.

“Dinner will be done in fifteen minutes so you've got time to take a shower if you want.” Hiromi said as Sero walked over to the counter where they sat.

“Sounds like a plan. Love you,” He pressed a kiss to her cheek then leaned down to kiss her stomach, “and you.” before jogging upstairs. Hiromi rolled her eyes at the display but Sephiroth saw the way her lips quirked up.

Sephiroth thought it was sweet, how clearly in love they were. Once, he'd secretly wanted a love like that but he'd long since accepted he would likely never have it.

He wasn't unhappy though, he had his son and several people who he could call his friends.

He was content with that.

When Sero returned from his shower Hiromi pulled the dish from the oven and they sat down to eat. The three of them talked about their day over dinner, well, Sero and Hiromi did most of the talking while Sephiroth listened but he didn't mind, he preferred listening to them talk.

Halfway through dinner Hiromi asked him when he would like her to watch Riku for him so he could run his 'errand'.

Sephiroth furrowed his brows.

“I don't know. I'd like to get it done as soon as possible but I'll have to arrange for transportation across the river first.” It would be a lengthy walk just to get to the other side of the island but crossing the water was the real issue. He'd rather not fly across again but if the tide was against him he might not have another option.

Sero suddenly perked up, “If you want to get to the lower island I know two guys who can probably give you a lift and drop you off on the other side.”

Apparently the water between the islands was a prime fishing spot but most people didn't think it was worth the trip to get there. Sero's friends liked to take advantage of this fact as it meant they could fish undisturbed without having to worry about anyone else stealing their catch. Sero offered to ask them if they could take him along the next time they went fishing, which Sephiroth gratefully accepted.

Two days later Sero knocked on his door while Sephiroth was doing the dishes and informed him his friends were heading out to the river that weekend and had agreed to let him hitch a ride with them. Sero gave him a vague description (“You'll recognize them immediately, they're both really tall!”) and told him when and where to meet them before rushing off again.

When the weekend rolled around Sephiroth got up early, ate a quick breakfast, then grabbed the bag with Riku's things he'd prepared and headed to Hiromi's place. He handed Riku over to her and gave her a long list of instructions on how to take care of him until he returned in a few hours (she probably didn't need it but since this was his first time leaving Riku with someone else she must have decided to indulge him since she just listened and nodded). After a long and reluctant goodbye to his son, which was more difficult than he'd expected, Sephiroth forced himself to leave and headed for the outskirt of town where he was supposed to meet Sero's friends.

The further away he got from the house the more Sephiroth could feel his connection to Riku start to weaken. Feeling their bond stretch thinner with every step he took was almost enough to make him turn around to reassure himself that Riku was okay but he forced himself to keep walking. No matter how much he wanted to he couldn't watch over Riku for every second of his life, that wasn't healthy for either of them, so while it was difficult Sephiroth kept telling himself Riku was safe with Hiromi and the sooner he got to the lab and found the information he needed the sooner he could hold his son in his arms again.

Quickening his stride it only took a few minutes before he reached the edge of town, spotting two figures standing next to a large truck with a boat hanging behind it. One of them had dark skin and wore a red bodysuit that was more suited to diving than it was to fishing and the other was a heavyset man in a white tank top and green overalls. They were both tall like Sero said so Sephiroth assumed these were the friends who'd agreed to give him a ride.

As he walked up to them the shorter of the two waved at him.

“You must be Sephiroth. I'm Kiros and this is Ward,” Sephiroth nodded at them both, having to crane his head up to meet Ward's eyes. Kiros noticed and grinned at him. “Don't let his size intimidate you, he's a real softy once you get to know him.” He said, nudging the taller man who didn't react. Sephiroth wasn't sure what to think about the tall, stoic man but he didn't get the chance to ponder it as Kiros clapped his hands together.

“Well, time's a wasting so let's get going.” Kiros said, opening the door to the truck and getting in the drivers seat as Ward climbed into the back, leaving the remaining front seat for Sephiroth. After they'd all clicked in their seat belts they were off.

They drove mostly in silence with only the sound of the radio and the occasional bits of conversation between Kiros and Sephiroth to break up their journey. It was about half an hour later when the river came into view, the ground turning from grass to sand beneath their wheels. Once they reached the shore Kiros turned the truck around, backing the car up until the trailer that held their boat touched the water.

“Here we are.” Kiros parked the car and the three of them got out, Ward moving around the back to start untying the boat. Sephiroth offered to help but Kiros told him it wasn't necessary and it clearly wasn't as just a minute later Ward singlehandedly lifted the boat into the water. Sephiroth raised a brow and subtly checked for any sign of a glow in the tall man's eyes. There wasn't any.

Sephiroth and Kiros climbed into the boat as Ward pushed them off and jumped in after them. The boat wobbled and Sephiroth had to grab on to the side to keep himself from falling into the water. Once they found their balance again Ward revved the engine a couple of times to get it going before pulling the handle, propelling them forward.

Salt water sprayed his skin as they skimmed across the surface of the water, the boat bouncing up and down with every wave they hit.

It was a good thing Sephiroth didn't get sea sick.

The distance between the two islands wasn't very big so fifteen minutes later Sephiroth found himself standing on the other side of the shore.

“Make sure to be back here by sundown or we're leaving without you.” Kiros shouted over the sound of the engine.

Ward shook his head.

Kiros laughed, “Yeah, you're right, Hiromi would probably hunt us down. Still, don't be late, okay?” Kiros winked and gave him a two finger salute as Ward turned the boat around and they raced off, leaving Sephiroth standing on the shore by himself.

Turning his back to the water he started walking, setting a brisk pace. He encountered several low level monsters on the way again but easily disposed of them with some Magic (when he returned to town he really ought to look into purchasing a weapon as he much preferred to cut his enemies down than throw spells at them). After a lengthy walk he found the cave system that hid the lab and ducked inside. Retracing his steps through the dark tunnels he found the large metal door still standing open.

As he descended the stairs the smell of rot and decay assaulted him, making him wrinkle his nose. The corpse of the assistant remained in the doorway at the end of the hall, his lab coat stained with old blood. It appeared no one had been down here to cover their tracks which meant the lab had been left undisturbed. Stepping into the main room Sephiroth barely glanced at Dr. Grand's remains as he headed straight for the file cabinets in the corner.

There were a large number of folders dedicated to the condition of his clone over the years, all with the same 'status: stable' stamp printed on them but he just pushed those aside without care until he found what he was looking for.

A folder labeled Subject Two.

Opening the folder he flipped through it until he found the page containing Riku's medical record.

Sephiroth unconsciously held his breath as he read the document, his eyes devouring every word until he reached the bottom of the page and finally allowed himself to exhale, his shoulders sagging like a weight had been lifted from them.

Riku was completely healthy.

The document contained everything he'd wanted to know such as Riku's date of birth, blood type, J-cell count, etc cetera. Sephiroth was glad to finally learn how old Riku actually was (almost four weeks) as well as relieved that he hadn't inadvertently hurt his son because he didn't know if he might have some kind of illness.

While some of his questions had been answered there were still several dozen pages left to read (good thing Dr. Grand wasn't as intense a note taker as Hojo or he would have been here all week) so with no time to waste Sephiroth got to it.

The first page contained Dr. Grand's initial theory on the Reunion Instinct that was ingrained in all Jenova cells and how she planned to use his offspring to return his consciousness into an empty vessel, namely the body of his clone.

This project she decided to call; Project Two. Sephiroth rolled his eyes at how unoriginal all mad scientists apparently were.

The next several pages detailed the entire process from conception to Riku's birth (Sephiroth decided to skim over the bit about how she used his DNA to inseminate herself with his child since he didn't want to know how she'd gotten those particular samples from him). Apparently there were a lot of failed attempts and when she did eventually manage to become pregnant she had a difficult pregnancy as she was plagued by intense headaches and vomiting spells lasting the entire nine months.

When it came to recording the birth the handwriting suddenly changed.

Sephiroth assumed the following notes were left by the assistant as they stated that Dr. Grand had a long and difficult birth which resulted in some complications on her part but, fortunately, none on Riku's. Interestingly in the first moments after Riku was born his clone had apparently shown a physical response in the form of minor muscle twitches and an elevated heartbeat. Sephiroth didn't recall sensing anything happen in the Lifestream but then again it wasn't like he was fully aware during his time as a discorporated spirit floating in what was literally the essence of all life. To Dr. Grand this was enough proof that her theory was correct but since she was still recovering from the birth they had to wait for her to regain her strength before they actually attempted to bring him back.

Following were several pages speculating the course of Riku's development based on Sephiroth's own records as an infant, which she had somehow managed to obtain. According to Dr. Grand's predictions Riku would grow at the same rate as any other child though certain motor skills might develop faster than average. She also speculated that Riku could be 'naturally' enhanced due to the high amount of Jenova cells he had, almost as high as Sephiroth's, and that with regular Mako infusions Riku's strength might be similar to his own one day.

His hands clenched, almost tearing the paper when he read she'd planned to start Mako infusions when his son was two years old if her experiment to bring him back failed.

It was a good thing Dr. Grand was already dead or Sephiroth would have killed her slowly. Very. Slowly.

Struggling to contain his anger he quickly read through the remaining pages until he reached the last one, dated six days after Riku had been born, which stated that they would attempt to return him back to life the next day.

Sephiroth closed his eyes, clenching his teeth against the need to scream in rage. Just reading about all that she'd planned to do to his son was enough to get his blood boiling. It infuriated him, how idly she talked about recreating what Hojo had done to him especially since he knew first hand just what kind of experiments she'd planned to subject Riku to.

His eyes snapped open as he turned and shot a Fire at the corpse of Dr. Grand, he watched the flames eat away at her remains before shooting another fireball at the body of the assistant and then kept going, throwing Fires at everything in sight until the whole room was alight in flames.

Taking the page with Riku's medical information out of the folder he tucked it in his pocket for safekeeping before letting the file drop to the ground to be consumed by the flames as well.

As the fire started to spread Sephiroth turned on his heel, leaving the place to burn as he ascended the stairs. Smoke was billowing out of the crack in the door as he passed through it and forced the door shut on the raging fire. Since the air in the cave was so dank there had to be a ventilation system supplying oxygen to the lab down below which should keep the fire going until everything was destroyed, making sure nothing was left behind in case someone happened to find this place in the future.

Exiting the cave Sephiroth noticed he'd been down in the lab for longer than he'd planned as the sun was already starting to set. As he walked not a single monster tried to approach him, no doubt they could sense the anger and killing intent that was still simmering beneath his skin and thought better of attacking him.

When he got to the shore he spotted Kiros and Ward's boat waiting for him in the shallows but even from a distance he could tell something was wrong. Hurrying closer he saw there was a large Seaworm attacking them. They were managing to hold it off, Kiros casting a Barrier to protect their boat as Ward stabbed at the worm with a large harpoon, but it had webbed up their engine so they couldn't move the boat away. Running in to help Sephiroth cast Fire at the monster to distract it.

“Toss me the harpoon!” He yelled. Ward looked at him, hesitating for a moment before he chucked the weapon at him. Sephiroth caught it midair, jumped up high and impaled the monster from above. The creature let out a dying scream as it writhed and then slumped over, dead.

Kiros and Ward looked surprised that he'd managed to pierce the creature's tough scales with a single blow but Sephiroth didn't really care about their reaction, he was just glad he got to kill something today (if he envisioned Dr. Grand in the worm's place it wasn't like anyone knew about that).

“You're late.” Kiros pointed out, “But thanks for the help.” Ward nodded.

Sephiroth pulled the harpoon from the carcass and chucked it back at Ward, who caught it. “You're welcome.”

After removing the silk entrapping the motor Ward brought the boat in close enough for Sephiroth to hop on board and then they were racing across the water again.

Once on the other side Sephiroth got out first so that Kiros could pass two large coolers full of fish over to him, Sephiroth loading the coolers onto the truck as Ward and Kiros lifted the boat back onto the trailer. Once everything was all strapped in they hopped in the truck, all three of them eager to get home, though Sephiroth most of all.

The whole trip back he fidgeted nervously. While he trusted Hiromi to have taken good care of Riku while he'd been gone he couldn't help but feel worried and only after seeing Riku again would he be able to relax. Kiros joked about him having separation anxiety but Sephiroth barely heard him, too busy counting the miles until they got back to Destiny Island.

When they reached the outskirts of town Sephiroth jumped out of the car before they'd even come to a full stop. Realizing how rude he was being he turned around to apologize but Kiros was already smiling at him. “Go on, get back to your boy.” he said, waving a hand out of the window. Ward nodded in agreement, the corner of his mouth turned up into a grin.

Sephiroth smiled and thanked them.

He didn't stay to watch them drive off as he started speed walking to Hiromi's house, too eager to see his son again. As he got closer he could feel the bond between him and Riku settling in his chest again, making him let out a breath of relief. He could already sense that Riku was completely relaxed and content but Sephiroth didn't slow his stride, consumed with the need to hold his son as he practically ran through town

He reached Hiromi's house and knocked on the door, waiting for seconds that felt like an eternity until at last the door opened to reveal Hiromi holding Riku.

“Look who it is.” She smiled and without prompting shifted the hold she had on Riku to allow Sephiroth to take him from her.

All the negative feelings of the day seemed to evaporate as he held his son in his arms. Sephiroth pressed his lips to the crown of Riku's head, finally at ease as he breathed in the scent of baby shampoo and milk.

He felt one of Riku's hands grab onto his shirt and smiled when he realized Riku had missed him too.

After a minute Sephiroth lifted his head to look at Hiromi. “Did everything go okay?” He asked.

“He got a bit fussy when he woke up from his nap and realized you weren't there but I took him for a walk like you said and managed to calm him down.” Sephiroth was glad she didn't have too much trouble with him as he didn't like the thought of his son being in distress due to his absence.

Realizing they were still standing in the doorway Hiromi invited him inside, ushering him over to his chair at the kitchen island as she grabbed him a drink, setting a glass of water down in front of him before taking the seat across from him.

“So how did it go? Did you find what you were looking for?”

He nodded. 

“Yes. Riku is completely healthy.”

“That's good to hear.” She smiled but then her brows furrowed and she sniffed the air. “Do you smell smoke?”

Quickly, Sephiroth came up with a lie to tell her.

“There was an incident at the hospital, one of the labs caught fire.”

Hiromi gasped. “Oh my, I hope everyone was okay?”

“The lab was unoccupied so no one got hurt and the fire was dealt with quickly.” He said, feeling bad about lying to her but knowing he couldn't tell her the truth.

“Well, after the day you've had you must be hungry. I can heat up some leftovers for you if you want?” She offered and Sephiroth realized he hadn't ate since breakfast.

“If you wouldn't mind.” He said. Hiromi assured him it was no problem as she'd cooked extra for him anyway.

As he watched Hiromi move around in the kitchen and felt the comforting weight of his son in his arms Sephiroth felt at peace.

It was good to be home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what I always wished they'd include in Kingdom hearts? Chocobos. I'd love it if we could actually go to a FF world one day and interact with some Chocobos, maybe even race them, but I doubt that'll ever happen so I'll just add em to this fic instead

It was a month after his 'visit' to the lab that Sephiroth decided to get a weapon. While taking care of Riku kept him busy Sephiroth wasn't used to living a life outside of battle and going so long without a decent fight was making him restless. Of course there wasn't much to fight on the island but even without something to challenge him he couldn't afford to let his skills slacken. While life on Destiny Island was peaceful Sephiroth was realistic enough not to assume things would always remain that way, being prepared for the worst was what had kept him alive all those years working for SHINRA, after all.

So Sephiroth found himself in the center of town, looking up at a large sign that read, 'Kinneas Weapon Shop'. The shop was simple looking, like the rest of town, nothing but the sign above the door to mark it for what it was. The shop's windows even had frosted glass so no weapons could be seen from outside, which he thought was a little strange.

Despite having come here with the intention to purchase a weapon Sephiroth was reluctant to go inside.

To most people a weapon was just that, a weapon, but Masamune had been part of him. When you entrusted your life to a sword you couldn't help but grow attached to it.

He still remembered the day he had received it.

The sword had been presented to him as part of a peace treaty between SHINRA and Wutai. He was only sixteen years old at the time but his accomplishments in the war had already elevated him to the rank of General which was why President Shinra had wanted him present at the treaty, both to show him off and to serve as a silent threat.

When the leader of Wutai had presented Masamune to him Sephiroth had accepted it with a blank stare. The sword was one of a kind, crafted by a master swordsmith for Sephiroth specifically, but it was as much an insult as it was an acknowledgment of his strength. The length of the blade was too impractical and the weight made it difficult even for him to use.

Clearly it was not a weapon that was intended for battle.

Sephiroth had never backed down from a challenge though.

It had taken him months to learn how to fight with it but once he did no one was able to best him. Masamune became an extension of himself, responding to just the slightest twitch of his hand and cutting down all those who opposed him without mercy.

When the peace treaty inevitably fell through and the war resumed he'd felt bad about turning the sword on the people who had gifted it to him but orders were orders and could not be ignored.

Now it was years later and Masamune was lost alongside his original body and yet he couldn't help but remenisce. Looking down at his left hand he could still feel the weight of the sword like a phantom limb, like all he had to do was will it and it would appear in his hand once more.

It was only when he realized what he was doing, standing in the middle of town staring down at his hand, longing for a remnant of the past, that he realized he was being foolish. There was no point to holding on to a past that he no longer wanted, had never really wanted, and that no longer mattered.

He wasn't the Silver General anymore, he was simply a father who wanted to protect his son.

Dropping his hand Sephiroth raised his head and walked into the shop.

The store had many weapons on display though guns seemed to be their main feature as almost half the store was taken up by a variety of pistols. There were less options to choose from for the other weapons but there were some swords that looked promising at least.

Interestingly enough there was a display case for Materia in the center of the room. Usually Materia was sold in a separate store but with their not being that many stores in town the Weapon shop must double as Materia shop.

There was a counter at the back of the room behind which sat a man who had his legs kicked up onto it and whose face was covered by a cowboy hat. When the man nudged the hat up to look at him Sephiroth noticed he was quite young, barely even out of his teens.

“Mornin', looking for anything special?” The young man drawled, leaning back in his chair as he peered at him from under the rim of his hat.

Sephiroth wondered if he conducted all business in such a nonchalant manner but didn't comment.

“A sword, preferably a katana made by a Wutai swordsmith.” He said. While he knew it was unlikely that he would find anything of the same quality as Masamune all the way out here when it came to swords Wutai-made was simply the best and Sephiroth wouldn't settle for anything less.

The shopkeeper tipped his hat up and whistled. “That's a tall order you got there. Lucky for you I happen to have just what you're looking for.” Kicking his feet off the counter the man walked over to a display case and removed one of the swords, bringing it over to the counter.

Sheathed the sword was approximately twenty five inches long, it had a circular guard and blue wrappings around the handle. There was a small carving of a golden phoenix at the base of the scabbard that caught his eye since dragons were typically used to decorate swords in Wutai.

“Normally I do the whole sales pitch thing but in this case I think I'll let the sword speak for itself. Go on, have a look.” Picking it up Sephiroth pulled the sword from the scabbard, listening to the near silent whistle of the blade leaving its sheath. The first thing he noticed was that the tempering line was shaped almost like a wave which gave the blade a rather striking appearance. Holding the sword up to the light to check for any imperfections he was pleased to find there were no nicks or cracks in the steel.

Looking over at the shopkeeper he said, “May I?”

The young man held up his hands, “Be my guest.”

Taking a step back Sephiroth gave the sword an experimental swing, first to the left, then to the right. Rolling the blade in his hand he performed a series of quick slashes to get a feel for the way the sword handled. While he had no target to practice on and only limited space to move around in Sephiroth was none the less pleased with the feel of the blade, finding it well balanced and not too heavy, making movement quick and easy.

“I can't tell if you like it or if you're just showing off.” The shopkeeper said with a wry grin.

“Perhaps it's both.” He quipped.

Stepping up to the counter he sheathed the blade again.

“Does it have a name?”

The shopkeeper gave a nod, “Muramasa.”

Muramasa. Perhaps the similiarity to his old sword made him partial but he liked it.

“And the price?”

“Seven thousand.” Sephiroth's brows pinched. Seven thousand was a lot of money even for a high quality sword.

It was clear by the silence in the room that the price was a tripping point for him. Sephiroth considered his options, he could get a cheaper sword now then try to save up some money and buy this one in perhaps a year or so but a cheaper sword would be of poorer quality and in the end he would have spent more money than if he'd just bought Muramasa in the first place.

After a minute of silent debate the shopkeeper cleared his throat, “I see you use Materia. What Level are they?”

Sephiroth glanced at the bracer on his wrist. “Ice3 and Fire3.” The Materia had leveled up after he'd killed the Seaworm though he hadn't noticed until the next day.

The young man hummed then reached under the counter and pulled out a wooden box, opening it to reveal two green Materia. Reaching out for the Magic contained within the Materia Sephiroth sensed they were a Restore and a Gravity.

“How about this, you MASTER these Materia for me and I'll knock two thousand off the price right now.” Sephiroth raised a brow, considering. Five thousand was still a lot of money but a bit more manageable for his budget. The shopkeeper was no doubt getting the better deal as fully leveled Materia were worth a lot more than the discount he was offering but if it meant he got to take home the sword today Sephiroth was fine with that. Leveling the Materia wouldn't be a hardship either since he was going to use the sword for training anyway.

In the end he didn't have to think about it for very long, “Deal.” he said, holding out his hand.

The shopkeeper grinned.

“Pleasure doing business with you.” They shook hands. “The name's Irvine, by the way. Irvine Kinneas.”

“Sephiroth.”

Irvine raised a brow. “You don't say.”

After Irvine rung him up and money had been exchanged they hashed out the details of when he would return with the fully leveled Materia.

“Say two months from now?” Irvine said with a smirk and a cocked brow.

Sephiroth knew a challenge when he heard one.

“Six weeks.”

Irvine clapped him on the arm, grinning, “There's a good man.”

Picking up Muramasa Sephiroth stuck the sword through his belt after saying his goodbye to Irvine and left the shop. As he walked through town Sephiroth decided to drop the sword off at home first before he went to pick up Riku up at Hiromi's place.

Passing by the bakery he slowed to a stop, the smell of fresh bread and sugar wafting from the open window. Hiromi had mentioned having pregnancy cravings for sweets lately, perhaps he ought to get her something as thanks for all her help.

He went inside and stepped back out again a minute later with a box containing three éclairs. 

After heading home and tucking the sword away on top of the fridge for safety reasons he went to knock on Hiromi's door. She opened it with a smile and passed Riku over to him, as he took his son into his arms Sephiroth held the parcel out to her.

“What's this?” She said, taking the box.

“Just a little something to say thank you.” They walked into the kitchen and she set the box down on the counter before opening it, revealing the pastries inside.

“You shouldn't have.”

Sephiroth shrugged.

“I know but I'm allowed to treat my friends, aren't I?” It was the first time he'd used the word friends to describe them but it had been true for a while now.

She smiled. “I suppose you're right.” Before either of them could say any more there was the sound of footsteps that came barreling down the stairs as Sero suddenly appeared in the room. “I smell chocolate.” Hiromi and Sephiroth shared a look of surprise before bursting into laughter, Sero blinking at them in confusion. “What? Why are you laughing?”

\--

In the weeks that followed a pattern started to emerge, once a week Hiromi would watch Riku for him while he went into the woods to train. He would return a couple of hours later, usually with a pastry of some kind which Hiromi would half-heartedly object to even as Sero devoured his with gusto (“Strawberry cake? If I wasn't already married I would kiss you.”).

It was a comfortable routine.

Outside the days grew colder, though he didn't much feel the cold Sephiroth wore a coat out now, not wanting to draw any looks because he was walking around in just his shirt in late November. Despite the weather he continued to train. While he had eradicated a fair amount of monsters there were still plenty of creatures to be found in the woods, unable to hide now that they had lost their coverage due to the cold. They didn't provide him with much of a challenge but at least he got a decent amount of Gil and the occasional Item out of it.

While they still had plenty of money to spare for now Muramasa had put a considerable dent in his 'savings' and while the Gil dropped by monsters was a nice little bonus they couldn't survive off just that forever.

Meaning he needed to find a job.

While he wasn't looking to start a full time job right away Riku was still his first priority and since he refused to leave his son with a babysitter every day his only option was to find a job where he'd be able to bring Riku with him. Most jobs didn't exactly allow for small children to be present though, either because it was too inconvenient or simply not safe. To top it off he had no idea where to even begin looking for work, as the only job he'd ever had he'd literally been raised from birth to do. Sephiroth had plenty of skills but he doubted his ability to make a strategic attack on an enemy hold in less time than it took most people to make a cup of coffee would be useful on the jobmarket.

“Do you know of any places that are hiring that'll let me bring Riku in to work with me?” He decided to ask Hiromi over a plate of apple beignets. So far she seemed to know about everything that went on in town so perhaps she could help him with this as well.

Hiromi placed a hand on her chin to think. “The fishermen could always use more help but I would wait until Riku was a bit older before bringing him along. Maybe some stores will let you run deliveries for them but I don't know if-- Oh! The Chocobo Ranch!” She exclaimed suddenly, hitting her palm with her fist.

“Chocobo Ranch?” He repeated, brows raised.

She nodded, “Yes, the owner, Darren, had a nasty fall a few months back, he's mostly recovered but he still has trouble with his leg. He and his wife, Cynthia, run the Ranch together but they've been looking for someone to help them take care of the Chocobos. I'm sure they won't mind if you bring Riku with you, Darren might not look it but he's a real softie when it comes to children.” She giggled.

Sephiroth considered the idea. He'd never taken care of a Chocobo before but it couldn't be much harder than taking care of a baby. If nothing else he ought to check out the Ranch and ask what sort of work they wanted him to do.

Hiromi gave him directions to the ranch so the next day he bundled Riku up in his winter coat, secured him in his sling and took him for a walk.

He found the Ranch easily enough, following a dirt road that lead out of town until he came upon a clearing that had a large fenced-off enclosure with a farm house just beyond it. Walking up to the fence he could see about a dozen Chocobos grazing in the field. Chocobos were notoriously people shy but these ones had clearly been raised around humans since they didn't seem to be bothered by them at all.

One of the birds trotted closer to the fence and peered at them curiously, tilting its head.

“Wark?”

Riku stared up at the bird with wide eyes and let out a squeal, “Waa!”

Another Chocobo appeared and the two birds blinked at them in unison.

“Wark! Wark!”

“Waaaaa!” Riku screamed back.

Suddenly there were five.

“Wark! Wark! Warrrk!”

Riku shrieked with joy, smiling his toothless baby smile as the whole pack of Chocobos gathered at the fence, all crowding around each other, squawking away as Riku shrieked and clapped back at them happily. Sephiroth blinked in surprise. Riku had never reacted like this before, he smiled a lot, usually during play time or when Sephiroth brought him his bottle, but he'd never been this excited. 

The birds were equally excited, for every squeal Riku let out they responded with a little hop and a squawk.

If he didn't know any better he'd say they were communicating.

“What's all this commotion?” A gruff voice called out over the noise. Sephiroth turned around and saw an old man standing near the house, the man knocked his cane on the ground twice and the Chocobos all looked up at the sound before spreading out, returning to their grazing.

The old man, who he assumed was Darren, the owner of the ranch, shuffled over to them.

“My apologies.” Sephiroth said, “My son has never seen a Chocobo before and he got a little excited.” Riku's excited screaming had lessened after the Chocobos had moved away but he was still making loud “Waa! Waa!” noises so Sephiroth took out his pacifier and placed it in his mouth.

Darren glanced at Riku, his expression hard to read due to his large bushy brows and mustache covering most of his face but for a second Sephiroth thought he saw a fond glint in the man's eyes. Darren looked up at Sephiroth again. “Not that I don't appreciate a friendly visit but what brings you out here, lad?”

“I heard you were looking for someone to help take care of the Chocobos?” He asked.

“Aye, that's true. You interested in the job?”

He nodded. “Yes, though I have some questions first.”

Darren crossed his arms, tucking them into his wide sleeves. “Ask away then.”

“First I'd like to know if you'd mind if I brought my son in to work with me? I don't have anyone else who can watch him and I'd rather not leave him with a sitter all the time.”

Darren raised a brow.

“What happened to his ma?” Some people might consider that a rude question but Sephiroth could tell the old man wasn't trying to pry into their personal lives, he was just being frank.

“She's no longer with us.” Sephiroth said.

Darren hummed. “I see. I suppose you can bring the lad with you, my wife will be happy to watch him for you until the birds have gotten used to seeing the two of yous. They won't hurt him but they can get a little excited sometimes, as you just saw.” Darren explained. Sephiroth nodded, glad to have his biggest issue sorted out so easily.

“How often would you need me to come in and for how long?” He followed up.

“Some days might be longer than others, depending on what needs to be done. For now I'd like to start you at twice a week and if you can handle it we'll go from there. Good with you?”

“That sounds agreeable.” He said. Sephiroth doubted he'd have a problem with the work even if it turned out to be harder than expected.

“Then I got a question for you; how good of a fighter are you?” Darren asked, making Sephiroth quirk a brow in question.

“I used to hunt monsters for a living so I'd say above average.”

Darren gave a nod. “That's good. Y'see I used to go into the woods sometimes to catch the wild Chocobos for breeding but since my accident I haven't been able to so I'd like you to catch some Chocobos and bring them back here.” He explained.

“I've never caught a Chocobo before.” Sephiroth said, honestly. He used to encounter Chocobos on missions sometimes but they always dashed off before he could get more than a quick look at them.

Darren waved a hand at him, “Anyone can catch a Chocobo, all you need is a Lure and a handful of Greens and the birds'll follow you wherever you lead 'em.” Sephiroth decided to take his word for it.

“I'll give it a try.” He said.

“Well, then I say you've got the job.” Darren stuck out his hand for him to shake. Sephiroth took it, slightly surprised by the old man's firm grip as they shook hands.

“Whats yer name, son?” Darren asked after letting go.

“Sephiroth.”

Darren raised a brow, “Like the Legendary Hero?” Sephiroth felt his lips twitch. It was always the older villagers he introduced himself to who made that comparison.

“Yes, we're distantly related.”

“You look like 'im too, now that I think about it.” That reaction he's had a couple of times as well.

“So I've been told.” He replied.

Darren looked at him for a second, like he was trying figure something out, but then shrugged and seemed to let it go. “Let's head inside so we can discuss what work you're gonna be doing, this cold is murder on my leg.”

Darren turned and started walking towards the farm, leaving Sephiroth no choice but to follow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holey moley has it been three weeks already? I apologize for the delay you guys but work and real life have been crazy recently so I've had almost no time to write. I should have more time to work on this fic soon but not until after this weekend cuz I'll be going to Amsterdam Comic Con to hopefully snag some Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts merch.

He was on his way back from a trip to the grocery store with Hiromi. At seven months pregnant she was having some difficulty walking steadily, not surprising considering the size of her belly, so they did their grocery shopping together nowadays so that he could keep an eye on her. Sephiroth carried both of their shopping even though Hiromi had tried to insist she was fully capable of carrying a bag of groceries. She'd complained to him enough about sore feet and backaches for him to want to offer what little help he could though.

A chill wind blew past them and he glanced down at Riku tucked safely in his sling. He'd dressed the boy in his warmest clothes that morning and added a hat for good measure. The hat was blue and had a fluffy white pompom on it that had Sephiroth resisting the urge to smile whenever he looked at it because of how adorable it looked on him. Riku very much did not enjoy having the headpiece forced on but as long as it kept him warm Sephiroth could deal with his fussing.

Turning his gaze back to the path ahead Sephiroth almost faltered in his step when he saw one of the last people he ever expected to see again.

Tifa Lockhart, Cloud's childhood friend and part of the group that had defeated him five years ago.

She was walking idly, looking around at the houses lining the cobbled street. The wind tossed her hair and she raised a hand to tuck a lock behind her ear, her head turning to look in his direction.

Their eyes met.

He could tell the moment she saw him, _recognized_ him. Her eyes went wide and her face paled, making her cold-reddened cheeks look like two bright, bloody spots upon her face. Tifa froze, stopping in her tracks and he stopped as well, their eyes remaining locked as they stared at each other from across the path.

Hiromi was three steps ahead of him when she noticed he was no longer beside her.

“Seph?” She called out, glancing back at him in confusion. When he didn't look away from Tifa Hiromi frowned and looked back at what, or rather, who, he was staring at.

“Do you know her?” She asked.

“Yes.” Was all he said.

It was clear from the way they were looking at each other that there was a history between them, and not a good one. Clearly able to tell there was something going on Hiromi came over and took the bag of groceries from his hand.

“I can manage on my own from here.” She squeezed his arm, “I'll see you later, alright?” He could hear the concern in her voice but he had no words of reassurance for her, not right now, so he nodded instead. The grip on his arm lingered for a second before she let go and walked away.

To get home Hiromi had to pass by Tifa, fortunately Tifa didn't even glance at her as Hiromi walked past her, clearly unwilling to take her eyes off him for even a second. Internally Sephiroth let out a sigh of relief, he'd been worried she might draw Hiromi into their conflict and considering her condition he didn't want to cause her any unnecessary stress right now.

Once Hiromi was far enough away that she wouldn't be able to overhear their argument he turned his full attention back on Tifa. The shocked disbelief on her face when she'd first seen him had given way to a growing anger, every line of her body tense as she waited for an attack she assumed to be coming. Her fist clenched and Sephiroth reflectively raised a hand to shield Riku, recalling how she used to throw punches hard enough to shatter brick.

“I have to ask you not to try to hit me right now or I will be forced to retaliate.” He warned her, trying to sound calm and non-threatening. He didn't want to fight her but if she attacked him she left him no other choice.

His warning only seemed to anger her more.

“Don't think you can intimidate me into running away. I don't know how you're alive but I'm about to kick your ass back into the Lifestream.” She said, taking a battle stance.

Sephiroth weighed his options, he could fight and risk his son's safety or he could run. The thought of fleeing rankled him but it was the only way to keep Riku safe. Even as he thought it he knew the chance of escape was minimal at best. If he ran Tifa would pursue him, he might make it back to their home but she would find him there so he would have to keep running, leave the life he'd built on Destiny Island behind and hide. But for how long could he hide before they were found? No doubt she would gather the rest of her old group and they would hunt him down to the ends of the earth once again.

That wasn't the life he wanted, not for Riku or for himself.

But what could he do? He doubted she would listen to him if he tried to explain he just wanted to live a quiet life with his son and even if she did listen there was no way she would let them be and go back to where she came from without some kind of assurance that he really wasn't a threat to her or the Planet anymore.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Riku squirming against his chest as the boy freed his hand from the confines of the sling and grabbed a hold of Sephiroth's hand which still hovered over him protectively. He felt the tiny hand give his thumb a squeeze, like Riku could tell he was distressed and was trying to comfort him. A warmth filled him and Sephiroth felt himself calm, even if it was only a little bit.

Tifa's eyes went wide when she saw the small hand wrapped around his finger.

“Is that... a baby?” She asked, sounding confused. She must have been so focused on him she hadn't even noticed the sling around his chest.

“Yes.” He confirmed.

Her eyes narrowed and the look of hatred she shot him was on par with the look she wore the day he'd burned her home.

“You bastard! Holding a child hostage is low, even for you.” She spat.

Now it was his turn to glare at her. “I'm not holding him hostage, he's my _son_.”

She flinched, staggering back a half step. “Your son?” She said as if she couldn't believe it, refused to believe it.

He couldn't say he was surprised by her reaction.

Sephiroth let out a sigh. He'd had no delusions that they would magically get along but did things truly have to be so difficult? He felt Riku squeeze his finger again, reminding him that he had a person in his court, even if that person was an infant who had no idea what was going on. Sephiroth smiled down at his son, then, remembering that it was still quite cold, he carefully tucked the small hand back inside the warmth of the sling.

Tifa watched him curiously, like she wasn't sure what to think of him now, but he took the fact that she wasn't trying to hit him as a good sign.

“I can explain everything but I'd rather not do so in public.” The path was deserted at the moment but people would no doubt be drawn by the sound of their argument if they kept going on as they were. They were lucky enough no one had come to investigate already and he'd rather not continue to test that luck if he could help it.

Tifa raised her chin, “Fine, but if you think I'm going anywhere with you alone you're even crazier than you were five years ago.” Reaching into her pocket she took out a phone and pressed a button before raising the phone to her ear.

“Barret, we have a situation...”

\--

The atmosphere in the room was tense.

Tifa and Barret occupied the sofa in the living room while Sephiroth sat in a chair across from them, bouncing Riku on his knee as Tifa watched him warily while Barret openly glared at him.

It was awkward to say the least.

After Tifa's phone call Barret had appeared barely a minute later, leaving a trail of dust in his wake as he slid to a stop beside his teammate and raised his arm, metal hand unfolding to reveal a large gun which was pointed directly at Sephiroth's chest.

At Riku.

Tifa's eyes widened as the gun made a whirring sound and a pale blue light began to gather in the mouth of the barrel.

“Barret, wait–”

“You have three seconds to stop pointing a gun at my son before I rip off your arm and choke you with it.” Sephiroth interrupted, arm raised to shield Riku in case Barret decided to disregard his threat (promise) and shoot him anyway.

Barret snarled, his arm shaking as he kept the gun pointed at them until Tifa stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. The two shared a look and Barret let out a curse, lowering the gun and letting it power down.

While Sephiroth was relieved that Barret no longer had the weapon pointed at them he couldn't help but notice his arm hadn't returned to its previous form. He knew it would be too much to ask Barret to face him without some form of protection though so while he wasn't happy with it Sephiroth figured this was the best he was going to get until he could earn their trust.

That was easier said than done though.

Sephiroth watched his two former adversaries watching him. Even with his eyes obscured by a pair of sunglasses he could tell Barret's gaze never moved from him, meanwhile Tifa's eyes drifted back and forth between him and Riku, like she thought the boy might disappear if she looked away for longer than a second. Tifa had let out a gasp after they'd stepped inside the house and he'd removed his son's hat, revealing pale wisps of silver hair. There was no way she could question his parentage when the evidence was so clearly in front of her yet she still seemed to have difficulty wrapping her head around the reality of the situation.

When Tifa looked up at him again their eyes met and her face took on a look of determination as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“How long have you been back?” She asked, breaking the awkward silence that had taken over the room.

“Four months.” He answered. Tifa's brows furrowed and Barret tsked, grinding his teeth. Going by their reactions that was longer than they'd initially thought, clearly they'd expected him to start wreaking havoc the moment he'd returned to life.

Sephiroth wasn't sure whether to find that humorous or depressing.

“How long have you been living in this town?” She followed up.

“Four months.” He repeated.

“How old is he?” Barret asked, gesturing at Riku with a nod of his head.

“Eighteen weeks.” It didn't take Tifa and Barret long to do the math and realize things didn't add up. Matching frowns marred their faces as they glanced at each other before turning back to him.

“Explain.” Tifa demanded.

So Sephiroth told them about how Dr. Grand, a former assistant of Hojo, had used an old clone of himself created by Hojo to bring him back to life. What he didn't tell them was that she needed another person with Jenova Cells to activate the Reunion Instinct to manage such a feat for fear of what they might do to Riku. If they knew his son had Jenova cells there was no way they would allow them to live undisturbed. They might even attempt to take Riku away from him, they wouldn't succeed but he'd rather prevent the bloodshed that would occur if they tried.

“And where did the kid come from?” Barret questioned.

“Dr. Grand used some of my DNA to create a child which she planned to make into the next perfect SOLDIER in case her attempt to revive me failed.” Sephiroth explained, “He was born a week before she performed the experiment that brought my consciousness back from the Lifestream.”

“What happened to the doctor after that experiment?” Tifa asked.

“I killed her.”

“Of course you did.” Barret muttered but he didn't sound particularly upset about it. Sephiroth highly doubted he would be losing any sleep over a SHINRA scientist.

Tifa didn't respond to Barret's comment, watching him closely instead, “Why?”

“She made a threat against Riku that I couldn't let stand.” Tifa quirked a brow but when he didn't elaborate she let out a sigh and continued.

“And since then you've been living on this island, pretending to be a normal person.” The tone of her voice made it very clear what she thought of him doing that but he chose not to react to her skepticism and simply replied, “Indeed.”

Barret snorted condescendingly. “And you expect us to believe that? That you've been livin' in this town all this time, playin' house and mindin' yer own business, instead of tryna take over the Planet again? Well I call bullshit! For all we know you're just tryna trick us into thinkin' you've changed when you're actually the same murderous bastard you were five years ago and all this,” he waved a hand at the room, “is just one big scheme to make us let down our guard. Heck, I'm willin' to bet that whatever evil plot you got brewin' the kid's probably part of it.” Barret said, pointing a finger at Riku.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed and it took every bit of his willpower to keep himself from throttling the other man to death with the nearest blunt object.

“You have ample reason to distrust me but you would be wise to leave my son out of this before you meet the same fate as the late doctor.” Sephiroth said, deceptively calm. Barret's eyes flashed with rage and he made to get up from his seat but Tifa's arm shot out and prevented him from rising. They glared at each other until Tifa cleared her throat and both Sephiroth and Barret turned to look at her. When she was sure they weren't going to try and attack each other again Tifa crossed her arms back over her chest.

“Whether you're telling the truth or not remains to be seen. What's important right now is to decide what's going to happen next.” She declared magnanimously.

Sephiroth scoffed.

“You mean _you_ will decide what happens next. I doubt I'll get much of a say in the matter despite how it will impact not just my life but the life of my son as well.”

Tifa scowled and Barret snapped back at him, “You think you deserve a say? After what you did you're lucky to still be alive, don't push it.”

Sephiroth could feel a vein in his temple start to throb in annoyance. He was about to retort when Riku whined softly. At first he thought his son was getting upset from all the animosity in the room but then he noticed Riku struggling to keep his eyes open, head lolling forward as he started to nod off then blinking awake again, tiny forehead scrunching up as he let out another whine. Glancing at the clock he noticed it was past Riku's usual nap time. Shifting the boy in his arms he looked at the couple across from him. “Riku is tired, I have to put him to bed. Excuse me.” He said sharply, ignoring how they both flinched when he got up and marched past them.

Pausing at the bottom of the stairs he kept his back turned to them as he said, “Whatever you decide to do I will do my best to comply.” before hurriedly walking up the stairs without giving either of them a chance to reply.

After tucking Riku into bed Sephiroth quietly closed the door, leaning his forehead against the wood as he let out a sigh. He wasn't looking forward to going back downstairs and dealing with more of Tifa and Barret's hostility but he couldn't exactly stay up here forever either. Lifting his head he figured he had no choice but to bite the bullet as he walked over to the staircase. He was about to walk downstairs but paused with his hand on the railing.

Tifa and Barret were talking about him. They were trying to keep their voices down but with his enhanced hearing he could still hear them. Careful not to make a noise he stood at the top of the stairs and listened.

“...can't be serious. We can't just leave him here on his own. Who knows what he'll do once we're gone.”

“I don't like it either, Barret, but what choice do we have? It's not like we can take him into custody, as much I hate to admit it the two of us are no match for him. No, the best thing would be for him to stay here until we know what to do with him.”

Sephiroth frowned, they were talking about him like he was an unwanted pet they wanted to get rid of but at least they weren't going to try to drag him back with them so he supposed he ought to be grateful for that.

“What if he bails?”

“I don't think he will. If he was going to run he would have done it already, he wouldn't have bothered telling us how he got resurrected or how he ended up living in this town with his son.”

“God, don't remind me. Sephiroth has a kid. I still can't believe it.”

“Me neither, but strange as it might seem I think it's actually a good thing.”

“You sure about that? We're talkin' about the guy who tried to destroy the Planet because his crazy alien mom told him to here.”

“I know, and it's not like I trust him all of a sudden but he's different from how he was five years ago, less hostile. He could have killed us the moment we walked through the door but he didn't, that has to count for something.”

“He could still be plannin' sumthin'.”

“Maybe, but we both know what it's like to suddenly become parents and how it shifts your perspective, instead of wanting to become a god maybe being a father is enough for him.”

“Let's hope you're right.”

“Speaking of kids, I know we had a few more days planned out but after everything that's happened I think we should go home and check up on everyone. We also need to tell Cloud about Sephiroth and I'd rather not have that conversation over the phone.”

“Yeah, that wouldn't go over well. Still, it sucks that we have to cancel our vacation just cuz' _somebody_ doesn't know how to stay dead.”

“I'm sorry this vacation didn't end up going as planned. Did you at least find that strange fruit you were looking for?”

“Ah, no, it, ah, wasn't in season...” Barret stammered out and Sephiroth stopped listening. They were clearly finished talking about him and if he stayed upstairs any longer they would start to get suspicious

As he descended the stairs Tifa and Barret immediately fell silent, watching him cautiously as he took his seat across from them again.

“Have you come to a decision?” He asked.

Tifa and Barret shared a look before turning back to him. “We've decided to give you the benefit of the doubt for now,” Tifa said, “but the rest of the group deserve to know that you're back and they'll have to decide for themselves whether you can be trusted or not.”

Meaning that until he had shown the other members of their party that he was no longer a threat his fate was effectively still in Limbo.

Sephiroth resisted the urge to sigh. He knew the chances of them trusting him were low but a part of him had still been hopeful that they might.

He should have known things were never that easy.

“I understand.” If he had to prove himself a hundred times over so that he and Riku could live in peace he would do it.

Tifa and Barret left shortly afterward, leaving Sephiroth alone with his thoughts.

Of them all Cloud would be the most difficult to convince and unfortunately he had little time to prepare for their next meeting. It was a only a matter of time until Cloud found out about his return and when he did Cloud would undoubtedly seek him out.

Whether it was to fight or to talk was anybody's guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this fic isn't Advent Children compliant (or anything outside of the main game really) some things will still be mentioned for no other reasons than because I like those additions so while Denzel likely won't make an appearance in this fic he was still adopted by Tifa and Barret, just wanted to let you guys know.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm starting every chapter update with an apology nowadays but yeah sorry for keeping yall waiting for 4 weeks. I overworked myself and just lost the ability to write anything I actually liked for like 2 whole weeks and then when my motivation finally returned and I actually managed to do some writing our internet just stopped working for no reason... So we were without internet for 10 WHOLE DAYS! It was not a fun time. But at least I got this chapter finished (and a couple of one shots drafted on the side) so without further ado on with the chapter!

Three days had passed since Tifa and Barret's surprise 'visit' and Sephiroth wasn't coping very well. He'd spent the last three days constantly looking over his shoulder while refusing to let Riku out of his sight for even a moment like an overprotective mother-hen.

It was getting to the point where other people were starting to notice.

The first to pick up on it was, of course, Hiromi. She'd called him the day after his run in with Tifa to ask him about what had happened after she'd left. Sephiroth didn't tell her much, not wanting to go into how they knew each other (“She and I have... history. I did some bad things to her and her friends in the past. I'd rather not to talk about it.”) but he told her about how he'd brought Tifa and Barret back to his house to talk and while they hadn't exactly cleared the air things hadn't gone as badly as he'd expected them to. Hiromi was glad things had gone over relatively well between them, assuring him that things would go back to normal now that they had gone back home and that he would forget about the entire encounter in no time.

If only that were true.

He warned her that another person from his past might make an appearance in the upcoming days and to just let him deal with it when it happened. If he ran into Cloud with Hiromi by his side and things started to escalate she would no doubt feel the need to defend him and while it would certainly be interesting to watch Cloud get told off by a five foot three pregnant woman he didn't want to get her involved in all of this.

They talked on the phone for a bit after that but Sephiroth found it hard to remain focused, his mind drifting to everything that might happen in the coming days and all the possible ways that things could go wrong, every what-if scenario worse than the last. Hiromi was forced to repeat herself multiple times over the course of their conversation because he kept getting lost in thought. After the third time he had to apologize because he hadn't been paying attention Hiromi had paused, concern bleeding through her voice as she asked, “Are you sure you're okay?”

His initial thought was to say _No, I'm not. I'm worried that things are going to change. I'm worried that people will find out the truth about who I am and we'll have to leave and for the first time in my life I actually have a home and I don't want to lose it._

He didn't say that though.

“I will be.” He had to be. It wasn't just him anymore, after all, he had his son to think about now so for Riku's sake Sephiroth hoped things would be alright.

In the mean time life went on and while he'd spent the last two days at home waiting for the other shoe to drop he actually had to go to work today. He'd considered calling Darren to say he couldn't come in today but Sephiroth knew he couldn't avoid going outside forever just because he was feeling paranoid. And besides, maybe leaving the house would do him some good, take his mind off of things for a while so after a quick breakfast Sephiroth bundled Riku up and headed for the Ranch.

The walk over to the Ranch was, thankfully, uneventful which helped him relax a little. Walking up to the farm Sephiroth saw Darren's wife, Cynthia, standing on the porch, she waved at him when she saw him coming.

“Good morning, Sephiroth. Oh, and Riku, too!” She smiled, leaning in to tickle Riku under his chin, making him giggle. She looked up at Sephiroth, “Did you need me to watch him for you?”

He nodded. “If you don't mind.” Usually he'd ask Hiromi if she could watch Riku while he was at work but with the threat of Cloud's appearance still looming overhead he wanted to keep Riku as close as possible.

“You know I'm always happy to watch him.” Cynthia assured him. With his son in safe hands Sephiroth headed for the stables.

He found Darren already inside, feeding the Chocobos. The older man looked at him as he walked in, giving a nod in greeting which Sephiroth returned before grabbing a bag of feed and moving over to the other side of the stables to feed the Chocobos that were impatiently waiting for their turn. Darren didn't talk much when there was work to be done but Sephiroth didn't mind that, the two of them working in silence with only the squawking of the Chocobos to provide background noise.

After all the Chocobos were fed they had to be groomed. While Chocobos groomed themselves for the most part there were some places they had difficulty reaching so he had to assist them in shedding their old feathers to allow new ones to come in. Moving his hands gently but firmly through the mass of feathers like Darren had shown him Sephiroth got to work on the first Chocobo. With the birds still relaxed after having just been fed they let him do his thing without putting up a fuss though some of them did try to peck at him when he ruffled their feathers too much.

A little under an hour later he'd groomed four Chocobos while Darren finished up the remaining six. Compared to two weeks ago when it had taken him nearly this long to groom just a single Chocobo he'd say he'd done well.

Now that the birds were all fed and preened they got to spend the rest of the afternoon outside. Sephiroth and Darren led the Chocobos out to the field, Sephiroth running ahead to open the gate so Darren could usher the pack through. The Chocobos looked pleased to be outside, stretching their wings and pecking at the ground looking for treats. Leaving the birds to it they returned to the stables to muck out the stalls. Fortunately Chocobos didn't make that much of a mess but the old, dirtied straw still had to be replaced every so often. Together Sephiroth and Darren made quick work of shoveling out the old straw and replacing it with a fresh, new layer for the Chocobos to bed down in later. By the time they were done cleaning the stables it was a little past noon so they decided to take a break.

They headed back to the farm and after washing up sat down at the table where Cynthia had prepared them a simple lunch of sandwiches and lemonade. Cynthia passed Riku over to him and he gratefully took his son into his arms. He hadn't been worried, Cynthia always took good care of him and he hadn't sensed any distress coming from Riku, but his arms always felt empty if he went too long without holding him.

Lunch was an enjoyable affair, Cynthia and Sephiroth making light conversation as Darren chimed in every now and then when prompted though he mostly stayed silent, content to let his wife do the talking.

“Are you running with the birds again today, Sephiroth?” Cynthia asked when they were finished eating.

“Yes.” Taking the Chocobos out running had become one of his duties and was easily his favorite part of the job.

“Ever since you've started running with them they've gotten so competitive. We might even get a couple of birds fit for racing at the Gold Saucer next season!” She smiled. After Darren's injury there hadn't been anyone to push to Chocobos to get faster, an important part of breeding racing birds apparently, but in the few weeks since he'd started running with them the Chocobos had shown a lot of improvement.

Sephiroth was determined to have them get even better though.

After lunch they each had their own tasks to attend to, Darren at the barn and Cynthia in her office while Sephiroth would head out to the fields. Pressing a kiss to his son's head he handed Riku back to Cynthia before heading out.

It was a short walk to the field and when the Chocobos saw him approaching they started hopping around in excitement, eager for a good run. He wasn't technically supposed to run with them, just alongside them to get them going, but while running with Chocobos could be quite dangerous for a normal person to him getting chased by a pack of Chocobos was just a fun exercise so he kept doing it. The birds didn't mind, in fact when they realized how fast he was they'd made it their mission to try to beat him.

They hadn't succeeded yet.

Tying his hair up into a bun so the Chocobos couldn't snag it (they might look cute but Chocobos weren't above cheating) Sephiroth hopped over the fence and took up position next to a pole that was marked with a red flag. Reaching into his pocket he took out a whistle and blew it, the Chocobos perking up at the sound as they rushed over to stand behind him, their heads low to the ground and their wings raised, waiting. Sephiroth made them wait, counting to ten in his head before he blew the whistle again and they were off in a flurry of dust and feathers.

He immediately pulled ahead but made sure not to go too fast, wanting the Chocobos to think they had a chance at beating him.

It was more fun that way.

Sephiroth couldn't help but grin as the loud squawks and flapping of wings made it sound like there was a veritable stampede nipping at his heels, urging him to go faster. Running like this was the only time he truly got to let loose, to just feel the blood rushing through his veins as his muscles burned under the exertion. It reminded him of his early days in SOLDIER when he would pursue his foes for miles or spend hours locked in battle with multiple enemies, until only his sheer determination kept him on his feet at the end of the day.

Those were the times he had felt most alive.

He passed the pole with the red flag, taking the first round. Knowing that losing the first round would only make the Chocobos more determined to try to beat him Sephiroth lost himself to the rhythm of his run, the squawking of the birds fading away as his mind went blank of all thought, replaced by the steady drum of his heartbeat.

He didn't know how long he ran or how many laps around the pen he did but by the time he finally started to slow he realized he couldn't hear the Chocobos behind him anymore. Slowing to a stop he looked back and saw that all the Chocobos were collapsed on the ground behind him, panting heavily from exhaustion.

To top things off Darren was standing at the fence, watching him with a hard to read expression. After making sure the Chocobos were alright he jogged over to the older man.

“I see you wore them birds right out.” Darren stated and Sephiroth was glad to see he wasn't mad. He knew Chocobos bounced back quickly and after catching their breath they'd be back on their feet in no time but he should have been paying better attention.

“I might have lost track of time.” He admitted, sheepish.

Darren gave him a look. “Why don't you head on home for the day, lad.”

Sephiroth frowned. “But there's still work that needs to be done.”

“I can finish things up here. You've clearly got something on your mind, best get home and sort yourself out.” He wanted to protest but he couldn't deny Darren had a point. While work had helped to distract him the matter of Cloud's imminent arrival had remained in the back of his head all morning, cropping up at times when he was supposed to be focusing on what he was doing. It was fortunate that nothing serious had happened while he was distracted but if something had gone wrong because he wasn't paying attention it would have been his fault.

Sephiroth let out a sigh.

“You're right. I'm sorry to have troubled you.”

Darren shook his head, “You're no trouble, lad. We all have things we gotta deal with sometimes, you just focus on takin' care of yourself and your boy and let us worry about the rest.” Sephiroth thanked him, leaving Darren to look after the Chocobos while he went to pick up Riku. When he got to the farm he explained to Cynthia that he had a lot on his mind today and was heading home early. She told him to take it easy and to call if there was anything they could do to help.

He appreciated her offer but this was something he had to deal with by himself.

He took his time walking home, there was no need to rush when he'd just be doing the same thing he'd been doing the past three days, which was sit at home worrying about when Cloud was going to show up. Sephiroth had never been fond of waiting, preferring to take action and make things happen than sit idling, but over the years he had learned that there was often no choice but to wait for things to happen as they will.

That didn't mean it wasn't frustrating.

It was almost enough to make him wish for Cloud to just appear in front of him right now so he could get it over with.

As if in answer to his thoughts Cloud chose that exact moment to appear from around a bend in the path. Sephiroth blinked, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things but when Cloud didn't disappear he realized the other was actually there.

Cloud noticed him immediately and while Sephiroth had expected him to reach straight for his sword Cloud didn't do that. Instead Cloud just looked at him, assessing him from a distance.

Sephiroth did the same.

Cloud hadn't changed much in five years, his face was more angular, his features more defined, and his skin had lost the unhealthy tone it had following his escape from SHINRA's clutches but other than that he looked the same. Even his hair was the same gravity defying mess of spikes it'd always been. He no longer wore the SOLDIER uniform (not many people were willing to be associated with SHINRA nowadays and Cloud had more reason than most to want to distance himself from them), instead he sported a leather jacket with a navy blue sweater and dark jeans.

Most noticeable was the fact that Cloud no longer carried the Buster sword that Zack had passed down to him, instead there was an entirely new sword strapped to his back. Sephiroth couldn't see much of the blade itself as most of it was hidden behind Cloud's body but it looked much bulkier than the Buster sword, an impressive feat considering the size of Cloud's previous weapon.

"Cloud." He acknowledged.

"Sephiroth." Cloud responded.

If he'd expected Cloud to say something more it didn't come. Cloud just kept looking at him, a strange look in his eyes.

No, not at him, Sephiroth realized.

At Riku.

Riku had a lock of Sephiroth's hair wrapped around his fist and that same fist stuffed in his mouth as he gummed lazily at his fingers. His large blue eyes blinked at Cloud, almost curiously, as he removed his hand from his mouth to blow spit bubbles at him.

Cloud looked at Riku like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Sephiroth was sure Tifa must have told him about Riku and yet the look on Cloud's face made it clear that whatever he'd been expecting seeing Riku had still taken him by surprise.

Sephiroth didn't know what to think about his reaction but he wasn't about to discount Cloud as a potential threat just yet.

“I suppose you've come for an explanation?” Sephiroth said, drawing Cloud's gaze away from his son and back onto him. Cloud's eyes hardened, his face drawing into a blank frown.

“Something like that.” He replied, “Mostly I wanted to see for myself if what Tifa told me was true.”

“And what did she tell you?”

“That you're alive. That you have a kid.” He glanced at Riku again, “Both true, apparently.”

“Yes. Though I'd prefer it if we didn't discuss this out in public.”

“Don't want anyone finding out your secret?” Sephiroth didn't respond but he didn't have to, they both knew that was the case.

Cloud let out a mocking snort. “Whatever. Not like I want to do this here, either. I take it you got somewhere to talk?” Sephiroth nodded. “Lead the way, then.” Cloud stepped to the side, indicating for Sephiroth to walk ahead of him as he wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword, a silent warning not to try anything. Sephiroth stepped around Cloud slowly, keeping his eyes on him until he had no choice but to turn his head. He didn't relish the thought of having Cloud at his unprotected back but he knew it was pointless to protest. He heard Cloud follow a few steps behind him as they walked in tense silence the whole way.

Sephiroth felt like a prisoner being escorted to the gallows as they walked into town. He hoped Cloud had at least removed his hand from his sword since he didn't want the rest of the village to see them and wonder what was going on.

When the house finally came into view Sephiroth almost sighed in relief, he knew the worst was still to come but at least they wouldn't be making a scene out in public. Stepping inside Sephiroth removed Riku's winter coat and hat before taking off his own jacket and leaving his muddy boots at the door. He would have liked to take a shower since he must smell like a Chocobo coop right now but that would have to wait until later as he padded into the living room. Cloud followed in behind him, glancing around the room suspiciously like he thought the tacky, old lamp that sat on the side table might explode at any moment.

“Have a seat.” Sephiroth gestured at the sofa.

“I'll stand.” Cloud said, curtly.

“Fine.” Sephiroth replied, just as curtly. Moving over to the kitchen Sephiroth took two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with water, sliding one over to Cloud who stood on the other side of the bar. Cloud glanced at the glass but didn't touch it. Sephiroth remained standing in the kitchen where he could easily reach his sword on top of the fridge should he need to.

They stared at each other, the tension between them so thick it could be cut with a butter knife.

“So are you going to start talking or did you want me to guess?” Cloud said after a full minute of silence.

Sephiroth took a breath and told himself it would be more difficult to earn Cloud's trust if he tried to strangle him.

“I take it Tifa relayed what I told her and Barret to you?” He asked.

“Yes, she told me and you're going to tell me again. The whole story this time.” Cloud demanded.

“What makes you think I didn't tell them everything?” Sephiroth asked, keeping his voice carefully blank.

Cloud gave him a look.

“Because I know you.” Sephiroth raised a brow sceptically and Cloud let out a frustrated sigh. “Something about your story just doesn't add up, okay? I mean, if the kid was supposed to be your replacement why was he born _before_ that doctor tried to bring you back to life? Doesn't make sense to me.” Cloud glanced down at Riku and Sephiroth fought the urge to hide his son from him. 

He hadn't counted on Cloud figuring out the holes in his story but he should have expected it, Cloud had been subject to the ministrations of a mad SHINRA scientist once which gave him some insight in how they thought.

Knowing it would be pointless to continue lying he would have to take the risk of trusting Cloud with the truth.

Letting a sigh pass his lips Sephiroth pulled out one of the bar stools and sat down before telling Cloud the whole version of events. He told him how Dr. Grand had figured out how to use the Reunion Instinct inherent in all Jenova cells to bring him back to life, how she'd used his DNA to give birth to Riku and to how he'd snapped her neck when she'd threatened to kill Riku after he'd served his purpose.

“Good riddance.” Cloud had muttered at that and Sephiroth had felt his lips briefly twitch up into a smile before sobering again.

“I didn't tell Tifa and Barret the truth because I was afraid of what they might do if they knew Riku had Jenova cells.” Sephiroth admitted, somewhat reluctantly.

Cloud shook his head.

“They'd never hurt an innocent child.” He said, “Not even one who happens to be related to you.”

“Perhaps not them, but others might.” He didn't need to say it for Cloud to know who he was talking about. SHINRA might not have the power they'd once had but they'd owned nearly the entire world and there were plenty of people still loyal to them who would try to use that information for their own gain.

Cloud sighed. “Listen, I can't promise not to tell my friends, this is kind of a big thing and they deserve to know. But I can promise you that no one outside the group will hear about it from us.” Cloud said and Sephiroth believed him, strange as that might sound. If there was anyone who disliked SHINRA more than him it was Cloud and his friends and while he would have preferred no one else knowing his son's secret he at least trusted them to keep it to themselves.

“Thank you.” He said, quietly.

Cloud gave a nod and looked off to the side as if to say 'don't mention it'.

“So what happens now?” Cloud asked after a moment of silence, looking back at him.

“What do you mean?”

“I get that in the four months since you've been living here you haven't done anything to jeopardize the Planet, at least as far as we know, but that doesn't change the fact that you tried to destroy the world five years ago in tribute to Jenova.” Cloud's eyes were hard and cold, reminding Sephiroth of the look he'd worn that fateful day in the Northern Crater. “How do I know you won't continue that legacy?”

Sephiroth had to think for a minute about what he could say to convince Cloud he was no longer the man he'd been back then.

“Mother... Jenova... is gone. The only parts left of her are the people in this room.” Cloud clearly didn't appreciate being included in that count but he didn't say anything, letting Sephiroth continue.  
“Once I thought it was my purpose to follow in her footsteps but now my purpose is to take care of Riku.” He looked down at the boy in his arms, the boy who had become his whole world, his salvation. “I want Riku to live a normal life, the kind of life I never had. A hometown, a loving parent, friends and dreams,” all things he had taken from Cloud, he thought, regretfully, “that's all I want for my son.”

Cloud's face was pensive as he looked at him.

“And what if something were to happen to him?" Cloud asked the one question Sephiroth had been too afraid to ask himself since he'd first held his son's fragile little body in his arms and realized instantly how much he meant to him. Despite no longer desiring to destroy the Planet he couldn’t deny the possibility that he would lay waste to the world in his grief if Riku should ever come to harm.

"I don't know." He admitted, honestly, "I don’t know what I would do… but I would do anything within my power to prevent it.” He said, looking directly into Cloud's eyes. If Cloud believed nothing else of what he'd said today he wanted him to at least believe this.

Cloud was silent, mulling over his words for a moment.

"I still don't trust you." Cloud said.

Despite having expected it Sephiroth felt a twinge of disappointment. “That is understandable.”

“So until I'm sure you're no longer a threat I'll be sticking around to keep an eye on things.” Cloud declared.

Sephiroth blinked. Cloud would be staying here? On Destiny Island? He didn't know what to say to that so the first thing that came to mind was; “This town doesn't have an Inn.”

Cloud shrugged. “I've got a tent in my bike. Besides, I've slept in worse places.” Cloud had clearly made up his mind and nothing Sephiroth could say would dissuade him so he didn't bother to try.

After that Cloud decided they were done talking for the day since he still had to inform Tifa of his decision to stay and get some supplies he'd be needing if he planned to stay long term. Sephiroth got up to escort Cloud to the door and, after bidding him a good day, closed the door on Cloud's retreating back.

Sephiroth walked back into the living in a bit of a daze, not entirely sure what he was feeling as he looked around the room, his eyes coming to land on their untouched glasses still sitting on the breakfast bar. He frowned, wondering why the sight of them bothered him so. 

Riku made a sound then and Sephiroth looked down to find Riku looking at him questioningly.

Sephiroth forced a smile onto his lips as he said, “Who wants to take a bath?”

Riku's face scrunched up in displeasure and Sephiroth felt his smile turn genuine.

Things were going to be okay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI you guys. So, I meant to update this sooner but I've recently fallen hard into The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and it's sortof taken over my life so while this fic is still my main priority don't be too surprised if you see a fic or two pop up for that series as well.

Over the next couple of days Cloud followed Sephiroth everywhere he went, watching him from a distance. Anyone else might not have noticed him at first but Sephiroth with his enhanced senses and a lifetime of training noticed his presence the moment he left the house. It took some getting used to, Sephiroth had learned to be wary of anyone lurking in the shadows during the Wutai War and having someone constantly following him around had his instincts on high alert but while Cloud wasn't as proficient at hiding as a Master Ninja he managed to stay out of sight for the most part so Sephiroth just pretended he wasn't there and ignored him.

It worked well enough when they were outside and Cloud had ample places to hide.

Inside was a different story.

Sephiroth was just picking up a few things at the grocery store, trying very hard to remember everything he needed to get while also dealing with the feeling of Cloud's eyes boring holes into the back of his head. Every time he went into another aisle Cloud followed a few seconds after, hiding ineffectually behind whatever tower of items he managed to squeeze behind (Sephiroth could see Cloud's spiky hair sticking out from behind a pyramid of soup cans right now) to stare at him until Sephiroth moved on and Cloud was forced to find another hiding place.

The worst thing was that he wasn't the only one who'd noticed Cloud's sneaking around. Several of the other shoppers had thrown Cloud wary looks and when they noticed Cloud staring at him they gave him curious looks as well. When an elderly couple passed him and started whispering to each other about 'that strange blond fellow following him around' and 'probably his ex' Sephiroth decided he'd had enough.

Going into the next aisle he didn't have to wait long for Cloud to come hurrying around the corner, the blond almost running into him until he noticed Sephiroth was standing right in front of him and came to a quick halt before they could collide (not that Sephiroth would have let Cloud bump into him since that would have woken Riku from his nap and then there'd really be hell to pay).

Sephiroth gave Cloud his best Pissed Off General glare as he stabbed a finger into Cloud's chest. “You need to stop following me around like this.”

Cloud frowned down at his hand for a moment before slapping it away. “I told you I'm--”

“Yes, I know, you're 'keeping an eye on things',” Sephiroth rolled his eyes, not even trying to hide how pointless he thought Cloud's attempts were. If he actually was planning to take over the world did Cloud seriously think he was going to start in a grocery store? “but if you keep following me around like this Rin is going to think you're a stalker and kick you out of the store.” Sephiroth knew that Rin, the owner of the store, kept a close watch over the place with several cameras (which they were currently in a blind spot of) and if Sephiroth hadn't confronted Cloud when he did it would have only been a matter of time before Rin did it for him.

“So what, you just expect me to leave you to it? Sorry, but it's going to take more than a few days of surveillance to convince me that you're not up to something.” Cloud said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Sephiroth sighed. “If you're that determined to follow me you might as well accompany me, we'll draw less attention that way and you can keep watching me without looking too suspicious.” Sephiroth suggested, thinking that was a fair compromise.

Cloud, apparently, disagreed.

“And what if I don't want to go with you?” Cloud argued, clearly just being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.

Sephiroth could feel a vein in his temple start to throb as he forced himself to remain calm lest he wake up Riku. “It's not like I want you there either but you can either suck it up and deal with it or I'll call you a creepy stalker loud enough for the whole store to hear and beat you over the head with this bottle of laundry detergent.” He said, grabbing a jug of liquid detergent off the rack next to him. Cloud narrowed his eyes, looking for a second like he was about to argue with him but then Sephiroth lifted the bottle threateningly and he thought better of it.

“Fine.” Cloud grumbled. “But I'm marking this down as proof that you're still evil.” At this point Sephiroth didn't care, he just wanted to get the rest of his groceries and go home so he didn't have to put up with Cloud anymore.

“You can do whatever you want just as long as you do it silently. Now hurry up, I've got more shopping to do.” Sephiroth said, adding the laundry detergent to his basket before moving down the aisle, Cloud following behind him like a petulant child.

They got through the rest of the store without too much trouble, Sephiroth taking his time getting the things he needed and Cloud grumbling under his breath about it.

They were in the final aisle when Cloud's patience ran out. “What's taking so long?”

“I'm trying to decide between between coconut or lemon flavored green tea.” Sephiroth replied, glancing back and forth between the two boxes.

Cloud pulled a face. “Who drinks coconut flavored green tea?” Sephiroth didn't but now that his diet wasn't being regulated by Hojo anymore he was trying out new things and while he wasn't particularly fond of coconut he added the tea to his basket just to spite Cloud. The action didn't go unnoticed by Cloud, the blond rolling his eyes at him but he didn't say anything as they finally headed towards the register.

“Ah, Sephiroth, good day. Did you find everything alright?” Rin said, smiling at Sephiroth as he rang up his purchases while shooting Cloud a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye. Considering the fact that Rin hadn't asked him if he'd had trouble finding anything since the first week he'd moved to town he figured the man was subtly trying to ask him if Cloud was giving him trouble. Glancing over at Cloud Sephiroth noticed the scowl on his face and how he was impatiently tapping his foot and resisted the urge to sigh.

Would it hurt Cloud to not act like a grumpy teenager for once?

“I found everything just fine, thank you, Rin.” Sephiroth assured him, smiling as he elbowed Cloud in the side. Cloud flinched and shot him a glare, the look on his face saying 'what was that for?'. Sephiroth just blinked innocently.

Rin raised a brow at their strange behavior but didn't comment. “I'm glad to hear it. Do let me know if you need help with anything.” He said as he finished bagging up Sephiroth's groceries.

“I will.” Sephiroth agreed as he paid for his things and said goodbye to Rin, ignoring Cloud's muttered “finally” as he took the two bags of shopping and headed out the door.

The moment the door closed behind them Sephiroth shoved the heavier of the two bags into Cloud's arms. “If you're going to keep following me you might as well make yourself useful and carry this.” Cloud fumbled with the bag for a second, nearly dropping a carton of eggs before righting himself.

“I'm not your lackey.” Cloud protested but kept hold of the bag.

“No, a lackey would be less annoying.” Sephiroth smirked as he walked off, Cloud cursing under his breath as he stomped after him.

They walked in silence after that, Sephiroth absently thinking about what he was going to cook for dinner today while Cloud followed a step behind him. They'd just left the town center and were following the path home when Sephiroth saw two familiar figures coming towards them. He had only a few seconds to worry about how a meeting between Cloud, Hiromi, and Sero would go before the two spotted him as well.

“Seph! Hey, Seph! Over here!” Sero exclaimed, excitedly waving his arms over his head. 

Hiromi fondly shook her head at her husband's antics. “I think he sees us, dear.”

They met each other half way, Sephiroth and Hiromi exchanging pleasant greetings as Sero peered curiously at the bag he was holding.

“What's in the bag? Anything you want to share with your good friend Sero?” He said, blinking pleadingly up at Sephiroth.

“Just some groceries I'm afraid.” Sero pouted and Sephiroth chuckled, shaking his head. He did have a box of biscuits in there somewhere but he knew if he gave them to him Hiromi would accuse him of spoiling Sero too much so he didn't mention them. Refusing to let the sad puppy dog-eyes get to him Sephiroth turned to Hiromi instead, “Didn't you have a doctor's appointment today?”

She nodded.

“We're heading there now but we're taking a walk first since the doctor said I have to do a bit of light exercise every day.” Hiromi grimaced, “Easy for her to say, she doesn't walk like she's smuggling a watermelon under her shirt.”

A snort sounded from behind him, reminding Sephiroth of Cloud's presence as Sero and Hiromi blinked in confusion, wondering where the sound had come from. It wasn't that Sephiroth had forgotten Cloud was still there, more like he was ignoring the fact, hoping that maybe if he didn't acknowledge Cloud's presence his friends wouldn't notice him.

So much for that.

Knowing there was no point in trying to hide Cloud now Sephiroth took a step to the side, revealing him to Hiromi and Sero.

“Oh, hello.” Hiromi said once she got over her surprise, “Sorry we didn't see you there or we would have said something sooner.”

Cloud shrugged. “It's fine. Not like I said anything, either.”

Hiromi gave an uncertain smile, like she wasn't quite sure what to think of the surly blond. “I don't believe we've met?”

“This is Cloud, an... acquaintance of mine.” Sephiroth quickly interjected. He wasn't about to call Cloud a friend (since Cloud would certainly object to that) but acquaintance sounded better than former mortal enemy so he went with that. Cloud kept silent, neither agreeing or disagreeing with his statement which luckily went unnoticed by Hiromi and Sero.

“Nice to meet you, Cloud. I'm Hiromi.” She held out her hand and Cloud took it. “Pleasure.”

Sero held out his hand to Cloud next, “Hi, I'm Sero. Has anyone ever told you your hair makes you look like a Chocobo?”

Cloud paused, their hands stilling mid-shake. After a moment of Sero just smiling at him like nothing was wrong Cloud resumed their handshake.

“Yes.” He admitted, reluctantly.

Sephiroth tried to disguise his laugh as a cough but it must not have been very convincing because Cloud still glared at him. Sero didn't notice the dark look Cloud shot him (already rambling about all the other ways he thought Cloud resembled a Chocobo) but Hiromi did, her eyes glancing between them suspiciously.

“Seph, could I talk to you for a second? Over there?” She said, pointing to a little further up the road. Having some idea as to what she wanted to speak to him about he nodded, shooting Cloud a look that basically said 'behave or else' as he walked off with Hiromi. Cloud looked panicked as Sephiroth turned away from him, his eyes screaming; 'don't leave me alone with him!' but Sephiroth just ignored him. He wasn't worried about leaving the two of them together for a bit, Sero could make friends with a dragon if given the chance, he'd crack Cloud in two minutes.

They didn't move very far, being mindful of Hiromi's condition, but they were far enough away that an average human would have trouble hearing them. That didn't mean Cloud wouldn't still be able to hear them though. Sephiroth could have insisted they move further up the road but he didn't see the point in it. If Cloud wanted to listen in he was welcome to, Sephiroth had no reason to hide what he was about to discuss from him.

“Is he the one you warned me about last time?” Hiromi asked, voice hushed.

“Yes.”

She glanced over her shoulder but Cloud wasn't looking at them, seemingly paying attention to whatever Sero was saying but Sephiroth could tell from his tense stance that he was indeed listening.

Hiromi turned back to him, “What does he want from you?”

“Just to see for himself if what I told him is true, that I'm not the person I used to be anymore.”

“And how long does he intend to stay?”

“I don't know. But Cloud can be quite stubborn, he won't leave until he is absolutely sure I'm telling the truth.” That much Sephiroth knew for certain.

She frowned. “He's not bothering you, is he? Cuz if he is you don't have to put up with him just to prove a point. We can have the Mayor kick him out of town and if he comes back I'll make Ward pick him up and throw him into the ocean!” Hiromi declared, getting worked up. Sephiroth tried not to laugh but the idea of Hiromi coming to his defense and getting Cloud physically thrown out of town was hilarious to him.

“That won't be necessary Hiromi, but thank you for the offer.” He assured her, smiling. 

Hiromi didn't look entirely convinced. “If you're sure.”

He nodded, “Positive. I know you don't know him but Cloud isn't a bad person. In fact, you two are quite similar, you're both very protective of your friends.” It was an admirable quality they shared, both of them wouldn't hesitate to go to the ends of the Planet for their friends.

Cloud already had, once.

Hiromi's ears grew red, “Well someone has to be.”

“And I appreciate it.” He told her, “You're the best friend I've ever had.”

Hiromi gasped, her eyes filling with tears. “Now you've done it.” Hiromi threw her arms around him, being careful not to jostle Riku as she hugged him. Sephiroth froze, he didn't have much experience with hugs and he'd never been hugged by a pregnant person before so he wasn't entirely sure what to do. He settled for awkwardly patting her back until she let go of him, rubbing at her eyes with her sleeves.

“Sorry, mood swings, you know?” She explained.

“I understand.”

Now that he'd cleared things up with Hiromi Sephiroth figured they ought to head back. “We should probably go save Cloud from Sero now.” He said.

“Oh, I don't know. They look like they're having fun.” Hiromi said, looking over at where the two were standing. Sero was gesturing wildly, arms waving around as Cloud watched him with a cocked brow and an amused smile.

Now that was surprising. He'd figured Sero could break through Cloud's walls but to actually get him to smile? Sephiroth didn't expect that. Cloud was always so serious and it was only when he was at ease that he let down his guard enough to actually enjoy himself.

Which was never around Sephiroth, for obvious reasons.

At least Cloud was in a good mood now, which was an improvement over how he'd been the whole day, though he expected Cloud to go right back to his grumpy old self the moment Sephiroth came within ten feet of him. Looking at Hiromi Sephiroth indicated his head and the two of them made their way back over to Sero and Cloud.

“--and thats how I ended up making out with a Cactuar.” Sero finished just as Sephiroth and Hiromi rejoined them. Sephiroth raised a brow, wondering how they could have possibly come onto this subject and what the set of circumstances was that apparently lead Sero to locking lips with a sentient cactus.

“You forgot the part where you got a face full of needles for your trouble.” Cloud pointed out knowingly.

Hiromi let out a chuckle, “I wish it was just his face, I was still pulling needles out of his butt the next day!” They turned to look at Sero who laughed awkwardly, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

“My, would you look at the time!” Sero said, pulling up his sleeve to reveal a wrist that was noticeably lacking a watch. “If we don't hurry up we're gonna be late for our appointment!” 

They all knew he was just trying to escape an awkward situation but when Hiromi checked her watch her brows pinched. “We've still got a bit of time but we should probably be on our way.” Which meant Sephiroth would be left alone with Cloud again. He supposed it was unavoidable but that didn't mean he was looking forward to it. Sero and Hiromi's presence had been something of a buffer between them providing a temporary reprieve from Cloud's animosity and once the two of them departed he would once again be forced to bear the brunt of it.

“It was nice to meet you, Cloud. Seph, I'll talk to you later, okay?” Hiromi said and Sephiroth nodded as Sero offered his arm to his wife and the two started down the path again.

“Bye, Seph! Bye, Cloud! Catch you guys later!” Sero said, waving over his shoulder. Sephiroth waved back and out of the corner of his eye he saw Cloud do the same. They stood there, watching silently until Hiromi and Sero had moved out of sight.

Then it was just the two of them again.

“They seem like good people.” Cloud commented.

“They are.”

“And somehow they became your friends.” Cloud was clearly curious how that came about but Sephiroth was under no obligation to tell him anything.

“Yes, I consider myself very lucky to have them.” He said instead and started walking, Cloud waiting for a second before following a step behind again. The whole way home he could feel Cloud watching him but his gaze no longer felt so intense, merely curious.

When they arrived at the house Cloud shoved the bag of shopping at him. “You can carry your own groceries next time.”

Sephiroth took the bag, “Don't follow me around so obviously and I won't have to make you.”

Cloud didn't say anything to that, just gave him a look that Sephiroth couldn't decipher before turning on his heel and walking away. Sephiroth watched him walk away then stepped inside and shut the door.

Cloud continued to follow him around town in the days after that but he seemed to have learned his lesson and no longer followed him inside stores.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM ALIVE!
> 
> That's right y'all after 2 months I've finally returned with an update, praise the lord. I'll be honest with you guys this chapter gave me /a lot/ of trouble. So much trouble that I ended up re-writing this chapter several times, the last of which happened YESTERDAY. On top of that things have been crazy at work with the holidays so I didn't have much to actually buckle down and get this chapter out any sooner but I told myself I would update before the end of the year and I did! With less than 2 days remaining in the year but still! Thank you all for your patience and see you guys in 2020!

Cloud observed Sephiroth from a distance as he had been doing for the past week. It was strange watching his nemesis go about his daily life, doing everyday normal things like he hadn't once proclaimed to be a god far above the rest of the human race.

Well what god mucked out Chocobo stables for a living?

Cloud watched from the shadow of the barn as Sephiroth tended to a pack of Chocobos, feeding them, grooming them, all while looking perfectly content to be doing such menial labor. Dressed in a pair of overalls and muddied boots he didn't look anything like the legendary Silver General or the megalomaniacal would-be destroyer of the Planet.

Cloud didn't know what to think about him now. Sephiroth didn't act at all like Cloud remembered him, not like five years ago, all grand speeches and insane proclamations or even how he'd been before Nibelheim, quiet and professionally distant.

And then there was the kid.

Tifa had told him Sephiroth had a son now (and wasn't that a strange thought) and yet the sight of his mortal enemy with a baby strapped to his chest had stopped him in his tracks. When he'd thought of Sephiroth's kid he'd pictured a miniature carbon copy of the man, down to the cold, acid green eyes Sephiroth had inherited from his 'mother'.

That wasn't what he got at all.

The kid looked... normal. Chubby cheeks, big blue eyes (with just a hint of green in them, no sign of the split pupil, thank God), no tentacles for limbs or anything else unnatural.

Just a completely normal baby.

Somehow that surprised him the most.

He'd been prepared to draw his sword the moment he laid eyes on Sephiroth but the kid gave him pause. He couldn't harm a defenseless child and even if he managed to beat Sephiroth and send him back to the Lifestream what would happen to the kid? He'd be yet another orphan in a world that already had too many of them.

In the end he decided to hear Sephiroth out, have him clear up some inconsistencies in the story Tifa and Barret had told him before deciding what to do.

When Sephiroth told him about what that doctor had planned to do to the kid–Riku, his name was Riku–Cloud had felt anger bubbling up inside him. Just the thought of her subjecting Riku to the same horrible experiments that Hojo had put him through (Cloud had little memory of his time as Hojo's test subject but the bits and pieces he did recall he would never wish on another person) made him glad Sephiroth had killed her because if he hadn't Cloud would have finished her off himself.

He shuddered to think of what might have happened to Riku if Sephiroth hadn't been there that day. Cloud didn't know what Hojo had done to him to make Sephiroth the way he was but it couldn't have been good if he'd turned to a two-thousand year old undead alien for any kind of parental connection.

Cloud might not have been pleased with Sephiroth coming back to life but if the alternative was Riku being stuck with that doctor to endure years of horrible experiments then he had to begrudgingly admit that this was the better option.

That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though.

At least Sephiroth genuinely seemed to care for the kid. At first he hadn't been sure if it was just an act Sephiroth was putting on to trick him into letting his guard down but the longer he observed the two of them the clearer it became that Riku meant a lot to Sephiroth, enough for him to give up on wanting to destroy the Planet, apparently.

Cloud was certain that if it weren't for Riku he and Sephiroth would be facing off against each other right now, Cloud fighting desperately to protect the Planet as Sephiroth fought to destroy it. Now several days had already passed and the former General hadn't once tried to fight him or even so much as acknowledged his presence outside from the incident at the store (which he was willing to admit he might have had a hand in instigating, just a little bit). 

It threw Cloud for a loop, leaving him floundering, uncertain of what to do.

After the last time they'd beaten Sephiroth it had taken him a long time to come to terms with everything that had happened, not just in the months leading up to the final battle but everything that had come before that as well. Zack's death, their capture, the Nibelheim Incident, and so many other things he still had trouble remembering at times. His memories would likely never fully recover but at least he could say with certainty that he knew who he was now. Not a SOLDIER First Class, not a failed science experiment, but Cloud, just Cloud.

That was enough for him.

After the fighting was over he had to find a new purpose. Reeve had tried to rope him into his new organization but he had no interest in getting involved with another corporation, even one that was run by people he trusted. Instead he decided to start his own delivery business, not because he needed the money (he'd picked up more Gil than he could spend in a lifetime during their pursuit of Sephiroth) but because he liked to keep busy and after so long of fighting and hopping around from place to place that was all he seemed to know how to do anymore.

It worked out well enough, he got to go where he pleased, see the world at his own pace, drop in on his friends whenever he was in the neighborhood. While the group made sure to keep in touch they had all returned to their own lives, settling back into something close to normal without the constant threat of SHINRA and the end of the world looming over them. Cloud probably would have done the same if he had anything to return to (Nibelheim was a ghost town now, abandoned after the fall of SHINRA) though Tifa always had a room ready for him whenever he got tired of being out on the road for too long, which he appreciated.

Five years passed like that and with the last of the SHINRA loyalist being rounded up he thought he could finally start letting down his guard.

Then Tifa told him Sephiroth was alive and it was like he was back in the Northern Crater, staring up at the alien amalgamation of wings and tentacles, not knowing what would happen next but that Sephiroth couldn't be allowed to live or all life on the Planet would die.

He'd packed his bags and left without a second thought, leaving everything behind for what he'd expected to be another fight to the death.

Only Sephiroth didn't want to fight.

Now here they were, hanging in this weird middle place between decisions and Cloud had no idea what to do.

If not to fight Sephiroth then why did he come here?

If not to fight why did he stay?

If not to fight what was his purpose?

“This is private property.”

Cloud started, so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the other person approach. He looked up at the source of the voice. A stern looking older man leaned on the porch banister, peering down at him from beneath large bushy eyebrows. Cloud hadn't seen anyone else working at the Ranch so he assumed the man must be the owner.

“Sorry, I was just...” He trailed off, trying to come up with a reason for being there.

“Creepily watching Sephiroth from the shadows?” The old man filled in for him, lifting one of his bushy brows questioningly.

Cloud could have denied it but from an outside perspective that was exactly what he was doing. The old man didn't look like he was about to chase Cloud off his property at least so that was good. The man calmly considered him as he chewed on a piece of straw, eyes running over his form until they came to rest on the Fusion blade strapped to Cloud's back.

“That's quite a large sword you got there. You a former SOLDIER?” Cloud frowned at the mention of SOLDIER. He didn't blame the old man for assuming he used to be part of it, not just anybody could wield a sword that was practically the size of their own body, after all, but he wasn't in the mood to explain his rather complicated history with SHINRA's private little army to a stranger.

“Something like that.” He replied, vaguely.

The old man looked at him with something resembling pity, probably assuming Cloud was ashamed to admit that he'd once worked for SHINRA.

He wasn't entirely wrong.

“I ain't judgin', lad. My son's an ex-SOLDIER too.” Cloud blinked, intrigued. There weren't many ex-SOLDIERs, mostly because they didn't get to walk away from the job, so to find out that one of them hailed from such a small, out of the way town was quite surprising.

“Is that so?” Cloud prompted.

The man nodded, “Mhm, Third Class he was. They sent him out to fight during the Wutai War shortly after his promotion, barely gave him a week to adjust to the Mako they pumped into him before they shipped him off to the front.” Even though the Wutai War had ended years ago Cloud could tell the old man was still bitter about that, not that Cloud blamed him, he knew from personal experience that a handful of days wasn't nearly enough to get used to the side effects of Mako.

“What happened to him?” Both SHINRA and Wutai had taken heavy losses during the war and those that had survived didn't come back from it unscathed.

The old man let out a sigh. “His squad was captured during an ambush and held captive for three weeks in a well fortified stronghold. The war wasn't going well for SHINRA at that point, their forces were spread thin just trying to keep the Wutai forces from reclaiming the territory they had taken. Lacking the manpower to make a rescue attempt the higher-ups at SHINRA decided to blow up the stronghold instead as a message to the Wutai emperor.” The old man's knuckles turned white as he gripped the banister, “SHINRA didn't give a rat's ass that they were blowing up their own people along with their enemies.” He spat.

“SHINRA never cared about how many lives it cost as long as they got what they wanted in the end.” Cloud said, knowing all too well what SHINRA was capable of. He thought of Nibelheim burned to the ground and then rebuilt like nothing ever happened. He thought of the villagers that had been taken for Hojo's experiments.

He thought of Zack bleeding out on a cliff overlooking Midgar, shot down by SHINRA's own soldiers.

The old man nodded in agreement. “General Sephiroth, though he wasn't the General yet back then, was given the order to plant the bomb but instead of retreating after the job was done Sephiroth ignored his orders and singlehandedly fought his way up to the top floor of the stronghold where the prisoners were being held to save my son's squad before the building could explode.” Hearing about how Sephiroth had risked his own life to save the old man's son made him feel conflicted. He'd heard plenty of stories about Sephiroth's heroic acts during the war but he'd come to realize that most of those stories were just propaganda created by SHINRA to justify their invasion of a nation for their own greed.

Somewhere, deep, really deep down, he was glad that at least some of those stories were based in truth, that the man he had idolized as a kid hadn't always been the cold, unfeeling person he'd come to know him as.

Cloud wondered why he cared whether Sephiroth had once been a decent person or not.

“Did they make it out okay?” He asked so he didn't have to think about it.

“They made it out before the bomb went off but just barely. You see, my son was hit with a grenade before he was captured and some of the shrapnel had lodged itself in his knee, the Wutaians healed him after they took him captive but they didn't get all the pieces out before they Cured him which basically fused the leftover shrapnel to the bone.” Cloud winced. That was the drawback of potions and Cure magic, it healed the injury instantly but whatever happened to be in your body when it took effect stayed there as bone and flesh grew back around it. “He could barely stand let alone run down twenty flights of stairs on a time limit so General Sephiroth had to carry him over his shoulder while holding back the remaining Wutai soldiers.”

Cloud glanced out at the field where Sephiroth was still tending to the Chocobos, trying to picture a younger version of him (how old was he when he'd fought in the war? The same age Cloud had been when he'd joined SHINRA? Younger?) protecting a squad of Thirds on his own, knowing that if he didn't hurry they were all going to die a fiery death. That would have been a lot of pressure on anyone but Cloud couldn't imagine what it must have been like to shoulder that responsibility at such a young age.

He turned back to face the old man.

“Did they manage to fix your son's leg?” Cloud asked despite knowing the odds of recovering from an injury like that were pretty much nil.

The old man cast his eyes down, shaking his head, “They had to fly him to Junon so they could operate on him. The doctors managed to remove some of the shrapnel but he never regained full mobility in that leg. When the higher-ups at SHINRA found out he couldn't fight anymore they discharged him without so much as a thank you.” It was a crummy thing of SHINRA to do, of course, but if you asked him the man's son had actually been lucky, if it hadn't been for that injury SHINRA would have sent him back out to fight in their war and he might not have walked away from it a second time.

The rancher sighed, glancing out at the field, “I never cared much for SHINRA even before the truth came out about them sucking the Planet dry but I'll always be grateful to General Sephiroth for saving my son. So when a 'distant relative' of his showed up one day looking for a job I wasn't about to send him away, now was I?” The old man said with a pointed look in his direction, leaving no doubt in Cloud's mind that the man knew who Sephiroth really was.

He wondered if Sephiroth was aware that the rancher knew his real identity. As if reading the question on Cloud's face the old man shook his head, “He doesn't know I know and I ain't gonna tell him. Whatever his reason is for keepin' things secret is his own business but if you ask me he deserves a second chance at things just as much as everyone else that got duped by SHINRA. Maybe even more so.” Cloud wanted to argue that the old man didn't know everything, that he didn't know all the things Sephiroth had done _after_ he'd basically given SHINRA, and the rest of the human race, the finger. He didn't say anything though because deep down he knew the old man was right. Sephiroth was just as much a victim of SHINRA as Cloud or any of his friends, he'd lived under their thumb his whole life, never knowing any better than to do what he was told, never getting answers to the questions he had. If it weren't for Hojo and SHINRA's manipulation Nibelheim would still be standing, Tifa would still have her father and Cloud his mother.

Aerith would still...

But the past was the past and no matter how he much he wanted things to be different the past couldn't be changed, all they could do now was move on and focus on the future.

“How do you give someone a second chance when you've spent so long resenting them?” Cloud asked, looking into the distance.

The old man let out a heavy breath, “I don't know, lad. I guess you have to ask yourself if you're willing to try.” Cloud frowned. Was he willing to try? If someone had asked him a week ago if Sephiroth deserved a second chance his answer would have been a flat-out 'no'. But now, after observing Sephiroth these past few days, after seeing him interact with his friends and the other townspeople, after seeing how protective and caring he was of his son he realized Sephiroth had already changed, he'd just been unwilling to accept it.

“Alright, I'll try.” Cloud decided.

The old man smiled, his mustache lifting with his cheeks, “Glad to hear it, lad.”

They stood in silence for a while until one of the Chocobos cawed loudly, the cry echoed by the rest of the pack.

The old man looked up at the sound, “I better get back to it, the birds don't like to be kept waitin'.” He said, pushing away from the banister. Cloud was somewhat disappointed their conversation had to come to an end but he'd kept the man from his work for long enough already. The rancher straightened and met his eye, “You're welcome to stick around if ya like but no more of this creepin' around in the shadows, you hear? If you really wanna stay and watch Sephiroth work the least you can do is say 'hi' to him first.” That was fair enough, if he was going to give Sephiroth a chance to prove himself Cloud was going to have to start trusting him.

It would take some getting used to, though.

“I understand, Sir.” He said.

“The name's Darren, lad.”

“Cloud.”

Darren gave him a nod, “Nice to meet ya, Cloud.”

He nodded back, “Likewise.” Done talking Darren made to leave but then paused, turning back around to face him, “Oh, just one more thing,” He said, pointing a finger at Cloud, “if you hurt that lad or his son, well, let's just say that my wife has a shotgun and she knows how to use it.” Despite the fact that he was being threatened Cloud felt the corners of his mouth twitch up for a brief moment.

He was glad Sephiroth had someone like Darren looking out for him.

“I'll keep that in mind.” Cloud replied.

“Good.” Darren said, giving another nod in his direction before shuffling off and disappearing inside the barn.

Alone again Cloud turned back to look at the field. He didn't know how things were going to go now that he'd decided to give Sephiroth a chance. He couldn't expect Sephiroth to trust him right away, just as it was going to take time for Cloud to learn to trust him, but as long as Sephiroth was serious about his commitment to turn over a new leaf Cloud was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and see where things went.

He just hoped that he'd made the right decision and it didn't come back to stab him in the back.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My God, did January feel like it it went on forever to anyone else or was it just me? Honestly if the rest of the year is going to be like this I'm going to be ushering in 2021 with fully gray hair...

Sephiroth looked up at the sky, frowning at the rapidly approaching dark clouds promising a heavy downpour. It was the end of the afternoon and his 'shift' at the Ranch was almost over, he was just waiting on Darren to return so they could escort the birds back inside then he could go pick up Riku and hopefully make it home before the rain started.

A harsh wind blew by causing his hair to fly up, one of the nearby Chocobos snapped at it but he snatched the lock of silver hair away before she caught it. “Bad girl.” He reprimanded. The Chocobo just cawed at him unapologetically.

Hearing an amused snort coming from behind him Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud who was leaning against the fence, watching the exchange go down with a wry half-smile. Ever since Darren had talked to Cloud his attitude towards him had been different, less hostile. Sephiroth didn't know what the old rancher had said to him to cause this sudden change but he wasn't about to look a gift Chocobo in the mouth.

“Do you have something to say?” He said to Cloud. They hadn't really spoken to each other aside from greetings—a new habit that Cloud had picked up that had taken him a while to get used to—but it was clear from the look on his face that Cloud had something on his mind.

Cloud grinned, “It's just funny, I remember when all the cadets used to be terrified of the big, bad General and now you can't even intimidate a Chocobo.”

Sephiroth blinked, taken aback by Cloud's casual ribbing but quickly recovered. “To be fair it's much easier to terrify cadets than Chocobos.” He recalled how back in those days all it would take was a cold look to send a group of cadets scurrying in the opposite direction.

Cloud snorted, “Maybe SHINRA should have trained them for their military instead, created a special Chocobo task force.”

Sephiroth couldn't help himself when he said; “You would have fit right in.”

The smile dropped from Cloud's face in an instant. “You saying I look like a Chocobo?”

“From a certain angle,” He said, fighting back a smirk as he went in for the kill; “then again you're a bit too short to pass for a Chocobo.”

Cloud's eyes narrowed, hand reaching for the sword on his back. “How about I cut off your legs at the knees and we'll see who's short then?” Sephiroth didn't think Cloud would actually turn his sword on him but he still braced himself for an attack on instinct. Cloud froze, noticing this, and quickly let go of his sword but the damage was already done. In an instant the carefree atmosphere between them was gone, replaced by a strained silence. Cloud's face twisted with uncertainty, his mouth a tense line, like he wasn't sure what to say or do now. Sephiroth didn't know either. Cloud hadn't done anything wrong, after all, he'd only been joking and while Sephiroth knew that it would seem that a part of him still saw Cloud as a potential threat.

Fortunately they were saved from how awkward things had become by Darren's timely arrival. “No fightin' on my property, lads. Save it for your own time.” The rancher said, effortlessly diffusing the tension.

Sephiroth breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the uncomfortable atmosphere faded.

“Birds give you any trouble?” Darren said to Sephiroth. He shook his head.

“They're a bit twitchy but that might just be due to the weather.”

Darren grunted, “Yeah, it's cuz of the storm, the birds can sense it comin' on. We best hurry up and get this lot inside before it hits.” Glad for the distraction Sephiroth went to open the gate to let the birds out. They led the Chocobos back to the barn, Darren at the front with Sephiroth taking up the rear as Cloud flanked the pack from the side in case one of the birds tried to make a run for it. They got the birds inside without a problem, Cloud staying outside the barn to wait as Darren and Sephiroth got the Chocobos set up in their pens. When they were done he asked Darren if he would be needed at the ranch the coming week.

Darren shook his head, “I keep the birds indoors during this kinda weather so you won't have to come in til after the storm's passed. Consider it a vacation,” The rancher said, nudging his arm in a friendly manner, “though I hafta warn you the Chocobos get a bit stir crazy when they've been cooped up for too long so you better be prepared to deal with a bunch of overexcited birds next time.” Sephiroth nodded, deciding to run a couple of extra laps with the Chocobos next week as he said goodbye to Darren and went to get Riku. When he returned Cloud pushed off the wall he'd been leaning against and followed him, throwing a wave in Darren's direction as they left.

Since there was only one road leading into town they walked together though neither of them spoke, both of them reluctant to bring up what had happened in the field earlier. Sephiroth wondered if things would always be this way between them. If they would constantly have to walk on egg shells around each other for fear that even one wrong move would put them back at square one.

The thought was a little disheartening.

Hearing the rumble of thunder in the distance Sephiroth looked up at the sky. Hiromi had told him about the seasonal storms that passed over the island at this time of year; harsh winds, constant rain, and the occasional torrents of hail and sleet kept all the residents of Destiny Island firmly indoors for the storm's duration. Sephiroth wasn't easily bothered by bad weather but he didn't know how Riku was going to react to it, nor had he ever had to worry about protecting his home against the elements (in Midgar they occasionally dealt with bouts of acid rain but the SHINRA building was well-equipped to endure it). Hiromi had assured him there was no need to board up the windows or anything, just to stock up on enough food to last them at least a week and to get some candles in case the power went out—though apparently it had been years since the power had gone out after the town had stopped relying on Mako energy, still it was better to be safe than sorry.

Sephiroth had made sure to be well prepared for the coming storm, his pantry was filled with non-perishables and extra baby formula so even if the storm persisted past its predicted duration they would be fine.

Cloud on the other hand...

Cloud had only his tent and what little supplies he traveled with which wouldn't be nearly enough to survive a storm like this. Sephiroth knew Cloud could handle himself and it would certainly take more than a bit of bad weather to take him down but just because he _could_ endure it didn't mean that he had to.

There was a simple solution to that problem though.

Cloud could stay in the spare bedroom at their house.

It would only be for a couple of days and he knew Cloud could be quiet and stay out of sight when he wanted to so his presence wouldn't be too much of a disturbance to their daily routine.

And yet he was reluctant to make the offer.

Maybe it was the memory of how quickly their conversation had soured after one wrong move or maybe he was just unwilling to let anyone intrude on his and Riku's private lives. Whatever it was he knew he couldn't let it stop him from extending the invitation to Cloud however. If he wanted to prove to Cloud that he had changed, that he wasn't the man he used to be anymore he had to be willing to let his guard down around Cloud and let him in.

He was pulled from his musings by another rumble of thunder, closer this time. “Sounds pretty serious.” Cloud said. Sephiroth glanced over his shoulder, a questioning look on his face and Cloud indicated at the sky with a nod of his chin, “The storm.” he elaborated.

Sephiroth gave a nod in understanding, “Yes, they're predicting a lot of wind and rain in the coming days, possibly hail as well.”

Cloud made a thoughtful sound, “Hm, hope my tent holds up.” There it was, if he was going to make the offer he wouldn't get a better chance than this.

“There's a spare bedroom at our house if you need a place to stay until the storm passes.” He said, making sure there was no sign of nerves or hesitancy in his voice. Cloud blinked at him, clearly not having expected him to offer. For a moment it looked like Cloud might be considering accepting but then he frowned, his expression becoming guarded and Sephiroth already knew what his answer was going to be.

“Thanks for the offer but I'm sure I'll manage with my tent.” Cloud's response didn't surprise him. While they'd been getting along recently that didn't necessarily mean Cloud would feel comfortable sharing a living space with him. Still, what mattered was that he'd tried, he would have felt bad if something happened to Cloud during the storm while Sephiroth did nothing to help.

“If you're certain.” Cloud nodded and they lapsed into silence again. Soon they parted ways, Sephiroth and Riku making for home as Cloud headed for the outskirts of town where he'd set up camp. 

Back at home Sephiroth kept himself busy entertaining Riku until it was time to start on dinner. As he was cooking he saw it had started to rain, the sky outside gray as heavy raindrops hit the window, the trees, barren of leaves, waving wildly in the wind. Looking out the window he thought again of Cloud. Sephiroth hoped wherever he was staying at least had some form of cover or he might get blown straight off the island by a strong gust of wind.

As the evening grew late the temperature started to drop causing the rain to turn to hail. He was worried the noise would keep Riku awake but soon found out there was no need for concern as the boy fell asleep as quickly as usual. Sephiroth had put Riku to bed about an hour ago and was just enjoying some time to himself reading a book when there was a knock on the door. He barely heard the noise over the wind howling outside and the heavy downpour of hailstones clattering on the roof but then there was a second, more incessant knock. Frowning Sephiroth marked his page and went to open the door, already have some inkling as to who could be knocking on his door in this kind of weather.

On the other side of the door stood Cloud, soaked to the bone and shivering.

“So about that spare room...” Cloud trailed off, somehow managing to sound sheepish while looking like a drowned cat.

Sephiroth sighed, resisting the urge to shake his head as he ushered Cloud inside, “Wait here, I'll fetch you a towel.”

When he returned Cloud was standing in the same spot, dripping water all over the floor. Sephiroth handed him the towel. “Thanks.” Cloud said, taking the towel to dry his hair.

“Thought you said you'd manage with your tent?” Sephiroth couldn't help but point out after a moment of silence. Cloud shot him a look as he pulled the towel down around his neck, his hair springing up in all directions ruining the serious expression.

“Yeah, well that was before I knew it would be raining hard enough to drown a Leviathan.”

Sephiroth did warn him but instead of pointing this out he said; “Do you have any dry clothes with you?”

Cloud picked his duffel bag up off the floor. “Yeah, I kept my bag in my bike so most of my stuff should be dry.” That was good, Sephiroth had some clothes Cloud could have borrowed if needed but since he was a fair deal taller than Cloud they wouldn't exactly have fit. After Cloud had managed to dry off most of the water so he was no longer dripping Sephiroth figured he was as dry as he was going to get.

“I'll show you to your room so you can change out of those wet clothes.” He said, casting a look at Cloud. “Shoes off first.” Cloud struggled for a minute to get his boots off then left them in the hall before following Sephiroth upstairs.

Even his socks hadn't been saved from the rain, Sephiroth noticed as Cloud's feet made squishing sounds with every step.

Upstairs Sephiroth opened the door to the guest room and flicked on the light, gesturing for Cloud to go inside first. Cloud walked in and looked around the room, cringing at the horrible floral wallpaper, “Interesting choice of décor...”

“It came with the house.” Sephiroth said with a shrug. Technically there was another spare bedroom with less sight assaulting wallpaper but he thought this one suited Cloud more. “There are spare blankets in the closet and the bathroom is down the hall on the left if you want to take a shower in the morning. Was there anything else you needed to know?”

“No, I'm good.”

Sephiroth nodded, “In that case I'll be going to bed.”

Cloud glanced at the tiny, ancient clock on the bedside with a frown, “It's barely ten in the evening.” He pointed out.

Sephiroth chuckled, “I know but unless you can sleep through the cries of a hungry baby I suggest you get some sleep as well while you still can.”

“Right...” Cloud muttered, like he'd forgotten infants tended to wake up a lot during the night. If he was going to be staying with them for the next few days he'd better get used to it though, Riku could get quite loud when he had to wait on his meal for too long.

When Cloud didn't say anything else Sephiroth figured they were done talking and turned to leave.

He'd only taken two steps down the hall when Cloud called out to him.

“Sephiroth.”

He turned to look over his shoulder and saw Cloud leaning out of the doorway.

“Thank you, for letting me stay.” Cloud said, a small but genuine smile on his face.

A single blink was all that betrayed his surprise. “Of course.”

They looked at each other for a while but neither of them spoke. Sephiroth had the feeling there was something more he was supposed to say but couldn't figure out what it was. In the end he simply settled on; “Good night, Cloud.”

“Good night.” Cloud replied, stepping back into his room and closing the door behind him.

Sephiroth stood there for a moment then turned off the light in the hall and went into his own room.

Inside the bedroom Riku was sleeping peacefully in his crib, entirely unaware of their guest but Sephiroth already knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep that night. Even though the guest room was on the opposite side of the hall he could still hear Cloud moving around in his room, the sound of another person moving around in their house putting him on edge. Knowing there was nothing he could do but try to ignore it Sephiroth dressed in his night clothes and crawled into bed. Closing his eyes Sephiroth wondered what the next couple of days had in store for them as he drifted off to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By now I'm sure you've all caught on that I'm a slow writer though things have been quite hectic recently (first all the crazy storms and now a pandemic? What is happening in the world?) so I'll just use that as my excuse *shrug*

When Sephiroth awoke the next morning it was still raining outside. The storm hadn't let up at all during the night, loud booms of thunder making the walls shake as harsh winds rattled at the windows throughout the night.

But it wasn't the noise of the storm that kept waking him.

It was the noise coming from inside the house that did.

Sephiroth was hyper-aware of his former enemy sleeping just a few steps down the hall. Every little shift and creak of the house had his eyes flying open, senses on high alert for a potential intruder. He hadn't slept this uneasily since the early days of the Wutai War when their camp could be ambushed by enemy forces at any point during the night.

He kept telling himself he had nothing to fear, that Cloud wouldn't be so cowardly to try to sneak up on him and Riku as they slept but his instincts were not so easy to convince. He knew there was nothing he could do but try to get used to it, though.

He wondered if Cloud had spent the night tossing and turning with one eye open as he had.

Probably.

Sephiroth turned over onto his side, looking at the cot next to the bed. By now his internal clock was so attuned to Riku that he always woke up shortly before Riku did. Knowing he only had a few minutes before his son would be demanding to be fed Sephiroth quickly changed into fresh clothes and headed for the bathroom, casting a glance at the door to the guest room on his way. It remained closed as it had all night.

He finished up his morning routine as the first whimper came from the bedroom. Sephiroth quickly got Riku out of bed, giving him his pacifier to silence his cries on the off chance that Cloud was still asleep and took him downstairs.

As he got Riku's bottle ready he heard movement coming from upstairs and then the shower turning on.

Now that Cloud was up it was only a matter of time until he came downstairs and they'd be forced to endure what would no doubt be an uncomfortable breakfast. Yesterday when he'd offered to let Cloud stay with them he'd considered that things might get a bit uncomfortable because of their shared past but now that that possibility was quickly becoming an imminent reality he couldn't say he was looking forward to it. While they had talked a few times in the past weeks it was only for short periods and usually with someone else around to act as a buffer. Now that it was just the two of them (and Riku but he wasn't exactly a sparkling conversationalist yet) they would inevitably stumble over some rather painful topics.

Perhaps it would be better if they just didn't say anything at all, Sephiroth thought. He'd dealt with plenty of awkward silences in his life though enduring it for a whole week would put a strain even on him.

No matter what happened though Sephiroth would have to make sure things didn't escalate to a fight as he didn't want to put Riku in any danger.

Not to mention the damage they would do to the house if they ended up clashing, he'd be lucky if there would be anything left of his home by the time they were done.

The water turned off and Sephiroth took a deep breath and prepared himself for the worst.

Cloud came down the stairs several minutes later dressed in a gray t-shirt and faded jeans. Cloud looked under dressed compared to his usual getup but it was the lack of his sword that was the most jarring. This was the first time Cloud had been around him without a weapon but he was not so naive to believe that Cloud couldn't still fight him if he wanted to.

“Good morning.” He said, hoping it came out casual instead of as forced as it felt.

“Morning.” Cloud greeted back as he took the seat on the opposite side of the breakfast bar. A few seconds passed and when it became clear Cloud was just going to sit there and wait Sephiroth turned his attention back to feeding his son. Riku had recently moved up to solid foods so he got to have a few spoonfuls of mashed fruit or vegetables after his bottle. Sephiroth lifted the spoon, making airplane noises as he moved the spoon around in the air before bringing it in for 'landing'. Riku only managed to swallow half the spoonful, the rest falling out of his mouth as he smiled his infectious baby smile. Sephiroth felt the corner of his mouth turn up as he scooped the bits of mushed carrot on his face back into his mouth.

When he looked up Cloud was staring at him.

“What?”

“I didn't know people actually did that, make airplane noises, I mean. I thought that was just something they did in movies or on TV.” Sephiroth wouldn't know, he wasn't allowed to watch TV as a child and as an adult he was too busy and had no interest in movies, he only did it because Hiromi had told him that making a game out of feeding time would make it easier for Riku to get used to eating from a spoon instead of a bottle.

“It's supposed to help with focusing on the spoon, babies have short attention spans so you have to make things entertaining for them to keep them engaged.” Sephiroth repeated what Hiromi had told him.

Cloud shrugged, “Makes sense, I guess.” and went back to staring at him.

Sephiroth refused to get self conscious as he continued to feed Riku until the jar of baby food was half empty. Riku whined when he put the spoon away and screwed the lid back on.

“You can have some more later.” Sephiroth said, walking over to the sink to wet a washcloth. As he approached with the cloth Riku turned his face away, trying to escape being cleaned but since he was strapped in his high chair he had nowhere to go. Sephiroth quickly cleaned his face, ignoring his son's muffled protest as he took off his bib and cleaned under his chin as well.

“There, all clean.” He said, handing Riku his stuffed Chocobo toy to play with it. Riku immediately hugged it to his chest, giggling as the bird let out a loud 'squeak!' so he squeezed it again, and again.

Knowing Riku would keep himself entertained with that for a while Sephiroth addressed Cloud, “Would you like some breakfast? I've got cereal and toast.”

If the repeated squeaking bothered Cloud he didn't show it. “Toast is fine, thank you.”

Sephiroth nodded and quickly got out the toaster, feeling anxious about having Riku out of his sight for all of the thirty seconds it took to plug in the toaster and pop in the bread. While the toaster did its thing he grabbed some jam and a couple of plates and knives. When the bread was done he dropped it onto a plate and slid it over to Cloud then made some for himself, popping in another two slices when he saw Cloud had already finished his two pieces.

They ate in silence with only the crunch of their toast and the occasional scrape of utensils to break the tension. The only one who seemed unbothered by the tense atmosphere was Riku, the boy too distracted by his toy to pay attention to the adults at the table.

After a long, drawn out silence it was Cloud who spoke first.

“How long is this storm expected to last, anyway?” At Cloud's words Sephiroth glanced out the window, finding the world wet and gray outside.

“About a week. Maybe longer.”

“Hm.” Cloud popped the last of his toast into his mouth then took his wallet from his pocket and placed a stack of bills on the table.

Sephiroth raised a single brow.

“What's this?”

“Rent.”

Sephiroth frowned and pushed the Gil back at Cloud. “You're our guest. I invited you to stay with us, you don't have to pay me.”

“Well if you won't take the money you have to let me do something to earn my keep.” Sephiroth wanted to insist that wasn't necessary but he could tell by the look on Cloud's face he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

“Can you cook?” His cooking was decent but by no means was it on par with Hiromi's.

Cloud sheepishly offered, “I can make eggs.”

That was a no, then.

“In that case you can do the dishes.”

Cloud agreed and while they were at it they divided the rest of the chores. Cloud would keep his room clean and do his own laundry while Sephiroth cooked and cleaned the rest of the house and every other day they would trade off on who did the vacuuming and dusting (Sephiroth was a bit of a neat freak when it came to dust, a side-effect of having grown up in a completely sterile environment).

With that sorted Cloud took their dishes to the kitchen to clean them. It felt a bit strange to just sit there while Cloud washed up but since Cloud had rejected his offer to help (“It's literally two plates and some knives, I think I can handle it.”) that was all he could do. While instructing Cloud on where to return the plates and cutlery Riku started fussing and squirming around, making it clear he wanted out of his high chair right that second or else. Sephiroth quickly lifted Riku up before his fit could turn into a full blown tantrum and deposited him on the padded blanket on the floor next to the couch. Riku was immediately distracted by the colorful mobile that hung above the blanket, tiny hands coming up to swat at the cartoonish looking monsters, sending the little Cactuar swinging wildly.

Crisis averted Sephiroth looked back up and paused as his eyes met Cloud's.

Cloud was still standing in the kitchen area, looking uncertain about what to do next. Sephiroth wasn't sure how to proceed either. Should he invite Cloud over to the couch to sit? Or would Cloud prefer to go back upstairs to spend as little time in his presence as possible?

The longer they stood there looking at each other the heavier the atmosphere became until it was nearly unbearable.

They were saved by a sudden loud ringing coming from Cloud's direction, the sound cutting through the oppressive silence like a bolt of lightning.

Cloud startled, taking his phone from his pocket and glancing at the screen. “It's Tifa. I texted her that I would be staying at your place until the storm has passed. She probably wants to check in.” He explained, sounding grateful for the break in the silence.

“Understandable.” Sephiroth said. She was likely concerned for Cloud's safety, wanting to make sure Sephiroth hadn't killed him yet no doubt.

Cloud glanced at him then back at the phone in his hand. “I'll just... take this upstairs.”

Sephiroth schooled his expression. It was obvious that Cloud wanted to talk to her in private since they were most likely going to discuss things Cloud wouldn't want him to overhear.

Sephiroth nodded curtly. “Of course.”

Cloud walked over to the stairs as he answered the phone.

“Hey Tifa, I take it you got my text?” Cloud said, sounding much more casual and at ease than he did a moment ago.

On the other end of the line Sephiroth could make out Tifa's concerned voice. “ _Are you sure about this, Cloud? I know you said the storm was bad but staying with Sephiroth...”_ She trailed off.

“It's just for a couple of days, Tif, I'll be fine...” Cloud said as he walked upstairs and closed the door to the guest room.

Sephiroth tried to focus on tuning out their conversation but it was difficult. Ever since he was a child his hearing had always been better than most. Back when he used to live in the labs all the rooms were soundproofed to keep him from listening in on conversations after the day he asked Professor Gast who Jenova was.

With a floor now between them it was more difficult to hear Tifa's end of the conversation but he could hear Cloud as clearly as if he were right in front of him. Despite his curiosity Sephiroth didn't want to invade their privacy so he turned on the old radio he sometimes listened to while cooking, drowning out the voices upstairs as he sat down on the couch and picked up the book he'd left on the table last night.

Cloud came back downstairs several minutes later, a weary look on his face that clearly said he'd just been subjected to a long argument. Since Cloud had left his bag upstairs he must have managed to convince Tifa that it was safe for him to stay however (or at least that it was safer in the house than outside braving the elements).

Now that he no longer needed it Sephiroth leaned over to turn the radio off. Cloud raised a brow at that, glancing from the radio to him for a long moment before realization lit up his face, Cloud giving him an appreciative nod which Sephiroth returned.

“You got any decent books in that bookcase over there?” Cloud said, pointing at said bookcase.

Sephiroth sat for a moment, not sure if Cloud was serious about his inquiry but then rose and walked over to the bookcase, “That depends on what you're looking for. I can give you some recommendations if you'd like...”

They spent a few minutes going over the books he'd read (which was most of them) and after Cloud poked fun at him for 'actually liking those trashy romance novels' the blond picked a mystery novel that Sephiroth had enjoyed well enough.

As they sat down to read Sephiroth couldn't help but notice that the awkward silence from before had all but disappeared now.

He hoped that was a good sign.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey you guys, sorry for the delay in bringing you this chapter but considering the state of the world at the moment I don't think I need to explain why it took a while.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter and stay safe!

It didn't take long for them to settle into a routine. After four days of constantly being in each other's space the initial awkwardness of living together had worn off, they still had the occasional moments where they stumbled around each other but those instances were easily brushed off.

By now Sephiroth had figured out to always have a pot of coffee brewing first thing in the morning to lure Cloud out of bed. It wasn't that Cloud couldn't function without coffee or that he was that terrible of a morning person but if there was coffee available it was the first thing he went for when he came downstairs.

Cloud, meanwhile, had figured out some of Sephiroth's little habits as well. How he liked to get some quiet reading time in at least once a day or how he always wanted the dishes to be cleaned right away, not wanting to leave a mess. Cloud wasn't much of a reader so he kept busy with other things, mostly cleaning his sword (though Sephiroth didn't let him have it out while Riku was around) and doing exercises, fortunately Cloud preferred push ups over squats like a certain someone they knew.

That afternoon they were each doing their own thing, Sephiroth sitting on the sofa reading his book with Riku on the floor beside him playing on his blanket while Cloud did some reps on the floor across from them.

A giggle caused Sephiroth to look up from his book.

Riku had rolled over onto his stomach and was trying to mimic Cloud. He'd only just learned to roll over and couldn't lift himself up on his arms yet but he kept lifting his head up and down in a semblance of a push-up. Cloud smiled when he noticed Riku trying to copy him, ducking his head down and sticking his tongue out when he pushed back up which made Riku let out another giggle.

Sephiroth's chest gave a strange little flutter at the display.

Sephiroth found himself unable to look away as Cloud played with his son, because that's what it was, playing. So far Cloud hadn't really interacted with Riku, he wasn't cold to him, just uncertain, like he didn't quite know what to do or what was allowed and didn't want to overstep his bounds. Sephiroth didn't know if that was because he was inexperienced with young children or because Riku was Sephiroth's son but it seemed like Cloud had just needed some time to warm up to him.

Sephiroth kept watching as Cloud indulged his son, pulling faces for him with every push-up. Eventually Riku's head started to nod in a clear indication that he was tired, glancing at the clock Sephiroth saw it was time for his nap as he marked his page in his book and rose.

Cloud glanced at him as he stood up.

“Riku's getting tired, he needs a nap.” Sephiroth explained as he picked the boy up, Cloud getting to his feet as well.

“Good work out, little guy.” Cloud said. Riku responded with a yawn that had the corners of Cloud's mouth twitching into a smile.

As Sephiroth put Riku down for his nap in the wooden playpen (there was no point to taking him upstairs when he would wake up again in an hour or two to be fed) Cloud moved past him towards the stairs, “I'm going to take a quick shower.” Sephiroth hummed in acknowledgment.

When Cloud came back down Riku was fast asleep while Sephiroth rummaged through the cupboards deciding what he was going to cook tonight. Cloud joined him in the kitchen.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Cloud said, lowering his voice even though there was no need to speak quietly, when Riku was asleep only his own stomach could wake him. Sephiroth nodded for him to continue as he considered a can of chopped tomatoes. Hmm, should he make lasagna or spaghetti tonight?

“How come you always seem to know exactly what Riku needs? Is it because of the Jenova cells or do you just have insanely good dad instincts?”

Sephiroth blinked, surprised by this sudden line of questioning. Jenova was still a sore subject between them and not one either of them had brought up since Cloud's first day on the island. Sephiroth looked at Cloud, gauging his expression. He didn't know what he was looking for, some lingering resentment, perhaps? Cloud's face only held curiosity though.

“More the former than the latter, I think.” He said, putting the can of tomatoes back in the cupboard. Cloud kept on silently looking at him so he elaborated, “I can sense it, in a way, when he's hungry or upset or tired but also when he's happy and content.” He didn't notice it anymore, the extra sense in the back of his mind linking back to his son just as much a part of him now as his glowing eyes and occasional extra limb.

“Must be handy.” Cloud remarked, leaning against the counter. “I bet a lot of parents would kill to be able to tell what their kid needs without having to guess.”

Sephiroth shrugged. “I suppose, though if they knew they'd need to have alien DNA to be able to do so they might not be so eager for it.”

Cloud snorted. “True. So what's for dinner?”

\---

The next day Riku woke up in a mood. At first Sephiroth thought the boy was just cranky, he had a fitful sleep that night and was probably still tired but when he tried to put Riku down for a quick nap before lunch he fussed and whined, refusing to sleep.

Shortly after he'd laid him down Riku started crying and he hadn't stopped since.

Nothing Sephiroth did helped, he'd tried rocking and soothing him but Riku just kept on crying. He realized something was definitely wrong with him when not even his Chocobo toy helped to cheer him up, Sephiroth waving the toy around and giving it a squeeze, the loud 'squeak!' that always made Riku laugh now just had him turning his face away into his shirt, wetting the material with his tears.

The only thing that seemed to help a bit was his pacifier, Riku's cries fading to pained little whimpers as he sucked on the pacifier, tears rolling down his cheeks.

Sephiroth could sense Riku was in pain though he couldn't feel any pain himself⸺this was probably a fail-safe of their bond, if the parent was incapacitated with their child's pain they wouldn't be much help, after all. Still Sephiroth wished now that he could feel it, just so he could figure out the source and find a way to ease his son's suffering.

Was Riku sick? Did he need to take him to a doctor? Sephiroth didn't really trust doctors but if there was something wrong with Riku he had to do _something_ , he couldn't just sit here while his son was distressed and in pain!

He must have looked on the verge of having a mental breakdown because Cloud actually grabbed his arm to shake him out of it.

Sephiroth startled, staring down at Cloud's hand around his bicep before looking up at the other's face, blond brows pinched in concern. “You need to calm down. Panicking is not going to help you figure out what's wrong with him.”

He knew that but he couldn't help it, he'd never felt this helpless before, this useless...

“I don't know what to do.” He admitted, ashamed.

Cloud released him. “Well do you know someone who might be able to help?”

Sephiroth was about to say no when he remembered he did know someone who might be able to and rushed over to the phone.

“Hello?” A feminine voice sounded through the receiver.

“Hiromi? It's Sephiroth, I need your help...” After he explained the situation Hiromi gave a thoughtful hum.

“It sounds like he might be teething. Can you check his gums? See if any teeth have started to come through?” Sephiroth moved the phone to the crook of his shoulder. When he took Riku's pacifier from his mouth the boy's cries started up again, the sound tugging at his heartstrings. Moving quickly he used his thumb to open Riku's mouth and looked inside.

There, right in the center of his lower gums were the edges of two tiny white teeth.

He quickly replaced Riku's pacifier and grabbed the phone. “You were right, he's teething.”

“I thought so, it's a bit early for his age but that happens sometimes. You should get him something to chew on to help with the pain. They sell teething rings at the store but I don't know if they're open at the moment.” Sephiroth was just glad to know Riku's pain didn't stem from anything serious, that it was just a normal thing all babies went through. He thanked Hiromi for her help and hung up the phone.

Cloud was at his side in an instant.

“What did she say?”

“Riku's teething. Hiromi suggested a teething ring to help ease the pain.”

“I'll go get one.” Cloud declared, rushing into the hallway to tug on his boots and jacket. He was dressed and out the door before Sephiroth could say a word.

Riku whined again and Sephiroth rubbed his back soothingly as he went to retrieve the parenting book Mrs. Dincht had given him. He'd already read it cover to cover when he first got it but his worry had sent all the information flying from his head. Flipping to the chapter on teething Sephiroth read through it again. According to the book most children started teething after six months so while Riku was a bit early he wasn't extremely so. While a lot of children didn't experience any pain as their teeth came in for those that did the book recommended giving the child something to chew on like plastic teethers or a cool washcloth. The book also said to absolutely not use Cure as that would cause the gums to regrow over the emerging teeth basically starting the teething process all over again.

Sephiroth winced at that, glad that he hadn't tried to use magic to heal Riku (though it was never a good idea to use magic if you didn't know what was wrong with someone).

It was several minutes after Cloud had left that he noticed it was still raining and while not as bad as a few days ago it was still coming down in buckets, Cloud would no doubt be completely drenched by the time he even made it into town.

Sephiroth felt a bit bad that Cloud had gone out in this weather while the store might not even be open just because Riku was in pain. He knew Cloud would have offered to go even if a natural disaster had struck the island though, it was in Cloud's nature to provide aid when someone was in need and he could do something about it.

Some time later he heard the door open and shut again. “I got the things.” Cloud announced and Sephiroth rose from the sofa to meet him.

As he'd predicted Cloud was soaked to the skin, hair and clothes plastered to his frame as he removed his sopping wet shoes and jacket.

This was the second time in less than a week that Cloud had stood in his hallway completely drenched.

“These the right ones?” Cloud said holding up two packaged rings, a red one and a blue one.

“I think so.”

“Good. Give me a minute they need to be washed before Riku can have 'em.” Cloud said as he moved over to the sink, leaving a trail of wet footsteps on the wood floor.

“I'm surprised Mrs. Dincht had the store open.” Sephiroth said as Cloud tore open the package of one of the rings and rinsed it under the tap.

Cloud shook his head, sending drops of water flying. “They were closed but I banged on the door until she opened it. After I told her Riku was teething she gave me these, didn't even let me pay for them.” Sephiroth figured she'd probably given them to Cloud for free because it was easier than hassling with the register but it was still kind of her. He'd have to go by the store after the storm had passed to thank her and to pay for the teethers.

Cloud closed the tap and quickly dried the ring with a clean cloth.

“She said that if he keeps crying to put one in the fridge, the cold will help to numb the pain, but let's try it like this first.” Cloud handed him the blue ring and Sephiroth plucked the pacifier from Riku's mouth, quickly holding up the ring for him as a substitute before he could start crying. Riku didn't even hesitate to put it in his mouth, grabbing the ring with his little hands as he chewed on the hard plastic. Immediately Sephiroth felt some of the pain channeling from Riku dissipate. There was still a lingering ache but it was more manageable now.

“Is it helping?” Cloud asked, looking at Riku like he was expecting him to burst into tears at any moment.

Sephiroth nodded. “Yes. Thank you, you didn't have to go out in the rain to get this.”

Cloud shrugged, “It's nothing, I didn't want the little guy to be in pain is all.” Cloud said as he smiled and gently patted Riku's head.

Sephiroth quirked a brow. This was the first time Cloud had touched Riku and he didn't even seem to be aware he was doing it.

The moment only lasted for a couple of seconds before Cloud suddenly froze, realizing what he was doing as he quickly pulled his hand back. “Sorry, I didn't mean to...” He stammered.

“It's fine, Cloud. If I didn't trust you around Riku I wouldn't let you near him.” Sephiroth said in what he had intended to be reassuring manner but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

“Oh.” Cloud said, averting his eyes to the ground and the puddle of water he was creating. He frowned.

“I should get changed. And clean up this mess.”

Sephiroth shook his head. “It's fine, I'll get it. You've done enough.” Cloud looked like he didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything, just gave a nod before marching upstairs. Sephiroth watched him go, not sure why Cloud suddenly distancing himself like that bothered him. He knew there was nothing he could do about it though, Cloud had a habit of shutting down tighter than a clam when put on the spot.

Riku cooed in his arms, happily drooling all over the teething ring and Sephiroth stroked his chubby cheek before going to grab a cloth to dry the floor.


End file.
